‘Deadliest Catch’: Who Is Rick Shelford’s Wife? All About His Marriage & Family
Since 2019, Rick Shelford has been a staple on Deadliest Catch as the captain of the F/V Aleutian Lady. He joined the show in 2023 during Season 19.
While Shelford is a public-facing figure on the Discovery Channel series, he is mostly private about his personal life. The fisherman married his wife in 2018, and we rounded up everything we know about her and their relationship below. Plus, more on Shelford’s family.
Who is Rick Shelford’s wife?
Shelford’s wife is Veleska Johnston. The two tied the knot in August 2018. For the most part, the relationship is kept out of the public eye. Johnston has a private Instagram page and a public Facebook page, although she rarely posts.
Since Shelford and Johnston are so private, not much is known about her or their relationship. They live in the state of Washington, and Johnston appears to work as a nurse after receiving her associate’s degree in registered nursing from Everett Community College in 2026, per LinkedIn.
Does Rick Shelford have kids?
While Shelford and Johnston don’t have any kids together, he has two children, daughters Sadie and Lili, from a previous relationship. Sadie is currently a nursing student at Washington State University, per her Instagram bio. She is also in the Pi Beta Phi sorority. Lili has no posts on her Instagram page.
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Johnston is also a mother from a previous relationship. Her son, Preston, is the same age as Sadie, as Shelford noted in a 2023 Instagram post that they both graduated high school and attended senior prom in the same year.
Shelford and Johnston have seamlessly blended their families since tying the knot. On Preston’s 18th birthday in 2023, his stepdad wrote on Instagram, “Watching you grow from a young boy into the man you are today. Has been so amazing!!! Happy 18th birthday @preston_johnston1 I love you and I’m so proud of you!”
Deadliest Catch, Season 22, Fridays, 8/7c, Discovery Channel
