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Todd Hoffman Shocks Fans, Leaving ‘Gold Rush’: Parker Schnabel And Tony Beets React To Shocking News

By Georgia Makitalo
Published on: 06:52 PST, Feb 18, 2018

Todd Hoffman made a shocking announcement on Friday, stating that he is leaving Gold Rush after Season 8. The face of the Discovery show since the first season, Hoffman held back tears as he made the announcement.

This was quite a shock for Gold Rush fans as Todd Hoffman has long been the face of the gold mining reality show since the inaugural season. The Sandy, Oregon native’s story resonated with viewers, and he was immediately seen as both a fan favorite and that guy that people “loved to hate.”

According to Starcasm, Todd, his son, Hunter Hoffman, and father, Jack Hoffman, may all be leaving Gold Rush at the end of Season 8, yet, Todd’s new production company Zum may mean we haven’t seen the end of Todd Hoffman.

Savvy Gold Rush fans who regularly follow Todd Hoffman on social media pretty much figured out what was going on before the Friday announcement on Discovery.

About two weeks ago, there was a lot of hoopla over a special live announcement on Gold Rush. Then, four days before the big day, Hoffman changed his social media profile to Zum Media, but continued to keep his handle @GoldRushTodd.

When he spoke to Gold Rush host Matt Rogers, he explained that the Gold Rush chapter was special, but after eight years, he is ready to write a new chapter of his career and life.

“You’ve watched my kids grow up, you’ve watched me go to the jungle, and you’ve watched me get gold and lose gold, and…it’s been tough. But, you know, like any chapter in someone’s life, before you can get a new chapter to start, a chapter has to end. And so, what I have to say is that my father Jack, and my son Hunter, and Team Hoffman — we’re not gonna be back on Gold Rush. Maybe never again.”

Getting choked up and near tears, Todd made a point of thanking Discovery for the opportunity that started nearly a decade ago.

“So I wanted to take this time and — Discovery’s been gracious enough to let me do this, you know, with another brother. I’ll try not to cry, but…yeah, it’s, uh, tough, you know? It’s been a big part of my life.”

According to Oregon Live, back in 2010, Todd Hoffman, his father Jack, and some of their unemployed friends took a risk and went to Alaska to mine for gold. This was back in the throes of the Great Recession of the last decade when jobs were scarce, and the emotional and desperate miners needed to make their mortgage payment and put food on the table for their struggling families.

The scrappy Hoffman crew were chasing the dream of striking it rich, learning the ropes, and often making big mistakes; and yet, fans related to, and rooted for the unlikely mining heroes.

Over the years the Hoffman crew has had a roller coaster ride. Rarely staying put they had left Alaska for Guyana, South America, which turned out to be a disaster.

They returned to the Klondike for a few years with mixed mining success, but last year, Todd decided to mine closer to home, in Eastern Oregon.

That also turned out to be a disaster, but their season was saved when Freddy Dodge found a claim in Colorado–but not before an epic fight between Todd’s most competent right-hand man Dave Turin and Trey Poulson.

In the end, Turin left the Hoffman team, and Poulson remained. Despite a goal of 5,000 ounces of gold and a 100-ounce bet with Parker Schnabel, this season has been a total disaster for Todd Hoffman. The crew has been snowed out, shot at and shut down.

Does this mean that Todd Hoffman is done with mining? According to Todd’s Facebook page, he has hinted that he wants to create a new reality gold show, with a dozen or so greenhorns who want to learn to mine. It could be assumed that this is a future project for Zum media.

As for the other two miners, Tony Beets, and Parker Schnabel, both were quite surprised to hear the news but offered kind words to their fellow gold miner.

Tony was obviously surprised at the announcement, and said: “I never thought he was gonna quite the show.” But, he gave Todd a thumbs up and wished him “the best of luck.”

Parker Schnabel, who has frequently been a thorn in Todd’s side, was also kind in his parting words.

“Todd, it’s been a lot of years of healthy/unhealthy competition. I think we definitely pushed each other pretty hard. I know it’s helped me, and I hopefully you got something out of this whole experience. I wish you the best of luck.”

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