Gold Rush is back and there was a big return with Rick Ness coming back. However, there was also a loss as Tony Beets took a personal hit to his own family-based team. Beets lost one of his sons for the new season of the hit Discovery Channel show.
Here is who left on Gold Rush and what Tony is doing about it.
Tony Beets’ son leaves his dad’s Gold Rush team
When Gold Rush started the new season, the biggest news was that Rick Ness was coming back. This meant that Fred Lewis, who many fans hated watching last season, was gone. Rick, a fan favorite, might bring back some long-time fans who felt last season was disappointing. With Parker Schnabel and Tony Beets very successful and Rick the scrappy underdog who knows what he is doing, the series looks fun again.
However, Gold Rush needs the drama, and that can instantly with Tony Beets. In the first episode, Tony was preparing for his new season with his family, who works with him. However, he was taken by surprise when his son Kevin came up and let his dad know that he was taking the season off. What surprised Gold Rush fans was that Kevin did this right before the season started.
The episode hinted at this with sister Monica saying that Mike was the only sibling who loved doing this work and Kevin wanted to find what he really wanted to do with his life. Tony then mentioned that Kevin was late to work this season and needed to get his “sh*t together.”
However, when Kevin didn’t show up, Tony called him via a video call on the computer and Kevin told him they wanted to take the year off. Beets said this will be the first summer after 23 years he didn’t show up. What was worse was that they didn’t call Tony. Kevin just didn’t show up.
Kevin first showed up as part of the Beets Crew in Season 5 when he was 26. This was when they worked the Paradise Hill claim. He has been working with his dad for the last nine years. Now that Kevin is gone, Tony will have to work out how he will delegate work this season with his crew.
Gold Rush fans question timing on Tony Beets crew
Gold Rush fans took to Reddit to blast Kevin for his timing in leaving his dad’s crew. One fan wrote that Kevin wanted to take the year off but waited until the season was ready to start before telling his dad. They wrote that they thought Tony should never let his son work for him again after that. Another fan felt it was interesting that Tony took it so mildly when Kevin told him he wasn’t coming back this season.
However, other fans pointed out something rather obvious. Gold Rush is reality TV. Yes, they are really looking for gold and much of that is realistic. However, the show is also edited to add drama for entertainment purposes. They mentioned that there was likely no way that Kevin waited until that moment on camera to tell his dad the news. However, by doing this, Gold Rush presented what looked like an obstacle for Tony this season.
Gold Rush airs every Friday night at 8/7c on Discovery Channel.
Do you think that Kevin really waited until the Gold Rush cameras were rolling before telling his dad he was taking the year off? How do you think Tony Beets will deal with it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
