Josh Owens from Moonshiners is a professional motocross racer and starred in the show Moonshiners which began in 2011 on Discovery Channel. He is a resident of Columbus, North Carolina United States, and was born on 28th August 1977.

Josh Owens’ family includes his younger sister named Chelsea Owens and his mother Cindy Owens who died in 2011. He also has a daughter named Elizabeth Reese Owens who he had with a former partner whose name he has not disclosed yet. He was later seen with a girl named Amber Layne Gabric with whom the relationship lasted a few years before they parted ways.

Josh joined the show after his friend Barney Barnwell, who had the idea for the show, died from cancer soon after the first season. Josh took it on himself to run the show and joined from the second season after Barney’s passing.

Josh was building a still for the show which was under construction from the first season and completed it to continue the show in spite of most of the crew bailing out.

Josh Owens’ Unfortunate Events

In June of 2017, the stash of the Moonshiners caught fire which was discovered by Josh when he went back to the ground with his truck accompanied by Cutie Pie, his dog who also happens to be his best friend.

In August of the same year, Josh Owens’ trailer caught fire that burned down the trailer along with a truck that was hooked to it near Sioux City in Woodbury County. In 2021, the sad news was announced by Josh that he lost his best friend, Cutie Pie who died on 19th June 2020.

The pup had frequent appearances in the show as one of Josh’s closest companies who tagged along everywhere riding on her owner’s bike. He expressed his grief on the show addressing his viewers how special she was to him who stayed with him for 17 long years and he had her before he had his daughter, which made her such an important figure in his life.

The “Moonshiners” 

The Moonshiners is a television series that has been aired on Discovery Channel which is based on liquor makers who produce illegal liquor and are called ‘moonshiners.’

The show has eleven seasons so far with a total of 185 episodes. The 12th season has not been announced yet and we are not sure when or if the show will continue beyond the 11th season.

The Controversies around It

The making of the illegal beverage is supposedly taking place in the Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia, however, the local officials of those states have denied the practice of this illegal activity and said no such activity is happening there and the show is not portraying the facts.

The Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) stated in 2012 that no production of illegal liquor was taking place unlike what was being depicted in the show, and if such activity was happening then ABC would have taken action soon after being notified of it.

They claimed to have requested the producers of the show to put a disclaimer for the viewers that the show is a dramatization and did not depict the facts of the states or the event but their requests were not taken into consideration. The producer and the production house went on to say that the show depicted the actual events and activities taking place in the respective states.

The show had been a target of controversy as the activities in the show were being said to be real but according to the officials, such illegal incidents would have been stopped immediately on orders. The show continues to date and the viewers are eager to see more of the show in the coming months.

Josh Owens’ Net Worth

Josh Owens did not start off his career as a moonshiner but rather as a motocross racer. He seems to have accumulated a good amount of finance from the Discovery show as well as from his ongoing business because of which his current net worth is estimated to be around 2 million US dollars per the records of 2022 and his yearly income has been reported to be about $100,000.

Although the show stopped being aired, he is still known for his work in the show and for keeping up the legacy of his friend late Barney Barnwell.