Rob Wolchek announces retirement after 28 years at FOX 2
FOX 2's Rob Wolchek announces retirement after 28 years
On Monday while on air, Rob Wolchek announced he would be leaving television in March 2026 after 28 years on the job. FOX 2 thanks Rob Wolchek for his incredible investigative journalism that has helped many for nearly 30 years here in Metro Detroit.
DETROIT (FOX 2) - FOX 2's Rob Wolchek has announced his retirement after nearly 30 years of helping expose scams and frauds across Metro Detroit.
On Monday while on air, Rob Wolchek announced he would be leaving television in March 2026 after 28 years on the job.
"I’ll be 67 years old. I just feel like it’s time to spend more time with my wife and kids and grandchild and not have to come to work five days a week," Wolchek said.
The backstory:
As a child, Rob Wolchek had one goal in mind: to become a deejay on the radio, leading to his first broadcasting job in 1978 playing country music to listeners across Farmington, New Mexico. Rob would work on radio for many years until he decided to work as a traffic reporter for KNX radio in Los Angeles, until he was told by a friend they were running an intern program at a local television station.
Rob signed up and later made his big break covering the 1989 San Francisco earthquake. He then took a job as a full-time reporter at KGET-TV in Bakersfield shortly afterward.
"I'd convinced my wife to move from the glamour of Los Angeles to the sticks of Bakersfield with the promise that someday I'd be a great reporter, so I had to grind it out for three long years," Wolchek said.
Rob would then head to KJEO-TV, now KGPE, in Fresno where, during his first week, he was sent on a story about a special park made for disabled children that had been burned to the ground by arsonists.
"I was really moved by the story and angry with the hoodlums that torched a place that meant so much to kids who'd already had been dealt a tough hand," Wolchek said. "My stories started a drive to rebuild the park and I got a special award from the city of Fresno. All of a sudden, I got a reputation as an advocate for the people."
Rob was soon named the ‘Scambuster’ due to his stories going after people who ripped off others. This was what earned him his first Emmy in Fresno.
Then, in 1997, Rob came to Metro Detroit to work at FOX 2, where he continued his work hunting down scam artists in the Hall of Shame.
"Detroit was supposed to just be a stop along the way in my career, but it became home," Wolchek said. "You, the wonderful viewers, have embraced me and shown me way more love than I ever expected. I’ve met so many of you brave people who’ve told me your stories — which is hard, especially after getting cheated. You’ve trusted me to get you some kind of justice, whether it’s your money back or just the satisfaction of seeing the person who did you wrong get put on the spot."
What's next:
Rob Wolchek will continue to catch bad guys in the Hall of Shame until March 2026.
"I’ve still got some bad guys to catch. And who knows — I may still pop up on FOX 2 on a part-time basis after I retire. I’d like that, because honestly, I love my job," he said.
FOX 2 thanks Rob Wolchek for his incredible investigative journalism that has helped many for nearly 30 years here in Metro Detroit.