Sue Aikens is a Television personality, film producer, and entrepreneur best known for casting in Life Below Zero. Her biography explored below.
Sue Aiken is a hardworking reality TV star who has a proven track record of success in her career. Despite the challenges she faced as a child, she beat the odds and pursued her dreams. Today, she is celebrated worldwide for her determination and remains a great inspiration to lovers of the Life Below Zero television show.
There’s a reason so many viewers are invested in a series like Life Below Zero, which is now in its 19th season. Sue Aikens is the primary subject of the show, and she’s one of the biggest reasons why Life Below Zero is as popular as it is.
Sue lives completely alone in an isolated zone in Alaska. She isn’t near much else as she resides nearly 200 miles north of the arctic circle.
The reality TV star was found ten days after the attack. She lay in her cabin treating her wounds and went back to kill the bear before medical aid arrived. The near-death experience shows her incredible strength and courage.
Now that the world has a little more insight into Sue’s personal life, people have burning questions. Here’s what to know about the Life Below Zero star, including where her net worth stand today.
Profile Summary
Celebrated Name: | Sue Aikens |
Net Worth: | $500, 000 |
Salary: | $4,500 per episode |
Profession: | Television personality and entrepreneur |
Birthday: | July 1, 1963 |
Age: | 59 (as of June 2022) |
Birthplace: | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
Current Residence: | Alaska, United States |
Nationality: | American |
Ethnicity: | White |
Zodiac Sign: | Cancer |
Sexuality: | Straight |
Marital Status: | Widowed |
Relationship status: | Dating |
Partner: | Michael G. Heinrich |
Children: | 2 |
Height: | 5 feet 5 inches |
Weight: | 77 kg (169 pounds) |
Instagram: | @sueaikens |
Facebook: | Susan Aikens/Life Below Zero |
Twitter: | @SueAikens |
1. Who is Sue Aikens?
Sue Aikens is a popular TV personality, producer, and entrepreneur. She is the lead cast of Life Below Zero, a National Geographic Channel documentary TV show that captures her life in the wild. Aikens has a huge fan base across the globe, which appreciates her adventurous spirit
The renowned TV personality is undoubtedly an inspiring character. Her extraordinary survival skills, perseverance, determination, and courage, displayed in the Alaskan jungle, always inspire many. She has faced attacks by wild animals and the harshest weather conditions, none of which has deterred her from her adventurous pursuits.
Sue’s adventurous spirit and big personality make her one of the best reality TV stars to keep up with. She has impressive survival skills, an extraordinary sense of determination, and an unmatched level of courage. After living a life battling against some of the hardest possible weather conditions and ferocious attacks by wild animals, she still hasn’t slowed her roll for a second.
On Instagram, Sue has more than 51K followers who keep up with her content. She posts gorgeous pictures of Alaskan sunsets, selfies, memes, and tons of motivational quotes. One thing is clear to anyone who takes a quick scroll through her Instagram feed –– she absolutely loves coffee!
The bio on her IG page also includes a link that leads to information about Kavik River Camp, a wildlife refuge that she owns. People who are interested in fishing, bird viewing, hunting, and camping can reach out to her there to make reservations or receive the support they need for their adventures.
2. How old is Sue Aikens?
Susan Aikens’ age is 58 years as of June 2022. She was born on July 1, 1963, at Holy Family Hospital, Mount Prospect, Illinois. She might be her parents’ only child since she never publicly talks about siblings.
3. Who are Sue Aikens’ parents?
Sue Aikens’ parents (whose identities are unknown) separated between the late 1960s and early 1970s. The last place they lived was Palatine, Illinois, before she began moving from place to place.
While on The Ellen Show, Sue revealed how her mother took her to Alaska at around age 12 after parting ways with her dad. Later, Sue learnt how to survive when her mum withdrew from her life. An old Alaskan sourdough taught her how to hunt using a rifle. She attended an accelerated learning program at Lowell Whiteman School and completed high school at age 13.
4. How tall is Sue Aikens?
Altough Sue is quite old, she is a strong woman who still takes up intense movie roles. She stands at a height of 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighs around 77 kg (169 pounds). She has a grey hair color and brown eye color. Did Sue Aiken lose weight? Sue Aikens shed around 75 pounds (34 kg) in 2020. As a result, fans assumed she underwent surgery to achieve significant weight loss.
5. What are some of Sue Aikens movies and Tv shows?
Sue has a successful career on TV and is a darling of millions who love her shows. She has been gracing the screens as a reality show host for around a decade. Besides Life Below Zero, Sue Aikens has appeared in these adventurous TV shows:
- The Joe Rogan Experience (2009)
- Sarah Palin’s Alaska (2010)
- Flying Wild Alaska (2011)
- Fox and Friends (2014)
About Life Below Zero
Sue became a TV star when people approached her to start a show. The National Geographic Channel’s Life Below Zero show has made her famous since its debut on May 19, 2013.
Life Below Zero has 18 seasons as of June 2022 and has won 5 Primetime Emmys. It centres on how people survive Alaska’s freezing and harsh weather conditions and their daily and seasonal activities. The show features families and individuals, including subsistence hunters.
Sue Aikens’ Life Below Zero has a massive fan base. Get the show’s latest updates on its Twitter handle, @Life Below ZeroTV.
Is Sue Aikens leaving Life Below Zero?
Sue Aikens filed a lawsuit against the Life Below Zero producers in February 2017, claiming her contract with the BBC gave her emotional stress and endangered her life by making her film in hazardous scenes. However, Sue is yet to leave the show.
6. Did Sue Aikens have surgery?
Sue revealed that she committed to a healthier lifestyle in October 2018 after a series of injuries in the past. She got tears around her hips during a 2007 bear attack.
She wanted parts of her body to heal to get in shape. As a result, Aikens resorted to exercises to lose excess weight. The reality TV star also had spinal surgery during the COVID 19 pandemic.
7. How did a bear attack Sue Aikens?
According to The Daily Record, Sue began to notice a male grizzly bear burying caribou carcasses near her camp. She knew she would have to remove them since she used the open space as a helipad. But when she did so, the bear didn’t like that and later on, did something she calls an “alpha push.” She says this is what happens when a younger bear who doesn’t have a lot of power tries to prove its dominance.
Sue says one day, she went to get water from the nearby river, and to use the pump, she needed two hands. Although she was aware her surroundings smelled like food, she had to put her rifle down, and that’s when the bear attacked. “The bear was hiding in a riverbank that I couldn’t see and he snatched me up, dragged me into the tundra between the dining hall and the river,” Sue said.
Sue explained that during an “alpha push,” a bear will extend their claws in the hopes that its prey doesn’t try to fight back. The bear is basically saying, “I’m going to kick your butt unless you give it to me willingly,” Sue explained. “He gets more points on the alpha scale if I say, ‘Oh no, you’re so bad, I’m leaving.'”
Sue went along with the act until she could get her rifle.
Sue went without help for more than a week before someone found her.
Before Sue escaped, the bear threw her around. Her hips were removed from their sockets, and the bear got its teeth around her head. “I knew my head had been torn pretty badly, and he dropped into the riverbank,” she said.
Sue was able to find the bear and shoot it before her hips gave out on her. Then it became a waiting game. She ended up waiting 10 days before someone found her. “I tried to call the troopers, got their answering machine, and I called one or two other people,” she said. “But it was 10 days of laying there, I got myself back in, I could not reach any communications.”
Sue knew that the bears knew where she was thanks to their sense of smell, but with the injuries, she had no way to protect herself. Luckily, someone eventually found her and she made a full recovery. This took place in 2007 and Sue can still feel the scars. “You can still feel where his teeth went into my head,” she said.
8. Where is Sue Aikens now?
She lives in a remote area of Alaska, almost 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, while her boyfriend lives in New York. What does Sue Aikens do for a living? She runs her Kavik River Camp and films the Life Below Zero show in Alaska. Is Sue still at Kavik? Kavik River Camp is not Sue’s vacation destination but her home throughout the year.
How did Sue Aikens die?
Sue is alive. She was at an isolated Kavik plane refuelling station when a bear attacked her. As a result, Sue’s sustained bit marks on her skull and hips came out of their sockets.
9. Who is Sue Aikens married to?
Sue’s first husband died of brain cancer, and she was married for 17 years to her second husband. They split before he died in 2004. Their two adult children have families.
Is Sue Aikens’ husband Michael Heinrich?
Sue Aikens and Michael Heinrich are in a long-distance relationship. He is a New York native and works as a journeyman electrician in Flushing, New York.
10. What is Sue Aikens’s net worth?
Sue Aikens’ net worth is $500,000. How much does Sue Aikens make per episode? She makes about $4,500 per episode. Her impressive wage rate makes her one of the highest-paid stars of the Life Below Zero show.
All in all, it’s clear that Sue has been a great addition to Life Below Zero.