Why did Fred leave Gold Rush and will he come back? Sat 6 November 2021 00:30 Helen Williams
Jessica Wood Gold Rush White Water returns in 2021 with a brand new season. The show launches on Discovery from November 5th and features James Hamm, Dustin Hurt, Carlos Minor and Wes Richardson. The show is a spin-off of the original Gold Rush and actually sees the team go to extreme lengths to find gold beneath one of Alaska’s wildest creeks.
Sadly, it appears that Gold Rush White Water OG Fred Hurt won’t be on the show for season 5, so why did Fred leave Gold Rush? Let’s find out more about the man who often risked it all to find gold…
Who is Fred Hurt?
When Gold Rush: White Water first launched in 2018, “Dakota” Fred Hurt, along with his son, Dustin, Paul and Wes Richardson and Carlos Minor, made up the show’s cast.
Fred hails from Minot, North Dakota and is a very experienced gold miner, commercial diver with 15 years’ experience and a dredge diver. The beginning of his construction career saw him working in the Gulfo of Mexico in underwater construction, demolition and salvage as per Discovery.
As per his Discovery bio, Fred’s been married three times and has four children, six grandchildren and five greatgrandchildren.
Why did Fred leave Gold Rush?
Although “Dakota” Fred had been an important part of Gold Rush: White Water for four seasons, he announced that he’s leaving the show in season 5.
Fred and his crew left the original Gold Rush show before due to financial reasons. Taking to Facebook, Starcasm reported that Fred said back in 2014: “If you want a Miner, call me…….if you want an Actor, pay me like one.“
The Discovery star did return to gold mining, however not as a cast member on Gold Rush but on his spin-off show.
Now, it appears that while the rest of the Dakota Boys will carry on mining, “Fred Hurt will be hanging up his wetsuit and entrusting his dream of hitting the motherlode to son, Dustin” as per Discovery.
Fred Hurt in 2021
During the Gold Rush: White Water 2021 preview, Fred says: “Dustin, I’m not going to be running a crew with you. I’ve got some other mining opportunities I want to look at. I will be back.“
As per Discovery, Fred is taking a step down but also “sets out on a mission to keep the family’s mining legacy alive“. How Fred plans on doing that is yet to be confirmed, but it’s likely that viewers will still see Fred in the season and it’s more that he’ll be taking a less active role in the gold mining this year, than fully leaving the show.
Fred’s son, Dustin, is doubling the number of crew members on the team, so it’s likely that Fred will still be on hand for advice in 2021.
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WATCH GOLD RUSH WHITE WATER ON DISCOVERY FROM FRIDAY NOV 5TH
