Did Dustin quit Gold Rush: White Water?

Season six of Gold Rush: White Water was less than successful, but Dustin Hurt has not announced official plans to leave the show yet.

It has been a trying year for Gold Rush: White Water fans so far. And even though the long-awaited second part of season six has now finally aired its finale, the outcome of the season was not exactly what anyone had expected.

A season like that definitely places some added pressure on the operation’s leader.

So close, yet so far

Spoiler alert: by the end of season six, Dustin Hurt and his McKinley Creek crew had basically wasted an entire season, only to be almost crushed by a huge boulder and to walk away with mounting debts instead of pockets full of gold.

And while this is always the gamble that miners take, especially Dustin’s brave crews that struggle through all of the challenges that the most remote parts of the Alaskan wilderness present, it has made a few fans wonder whether Dustin will have it in him (or in his budget) to return for another season.

To add to all of the drama of this past season, Dustin has also been dealing with a few personal tragedies outside of the show.

However, even though it seems like all hope that Dustin will sign on for another season of Gold Rush: White Water may be lost, this claim owner notoriously does not have any social media presence of his own, and has not announced any such plans through Discovery or the show’s producers yet.

So for now, it seems like Dustin will definitely be returning to Gold Rush: White Water for its still-unconfirmed next season.

Dustin’s Gold Rush appearances

Like many of the now well-known faces in the Gold Rush franchise, Dustin actually had his television debut more than a decade ago in the original Gold Rush.

And although Dustin is now starring in the Gold Rush: White Water franchise, which started all the way back in 2018 and has now aired more than 80 episodes, he has also made appearances in quite a few of the franchise’s other hit shows like:

The Hurts have had issues with the Gold Rush franchise before

Although Gold Rush: White Water clearly had a few behind-the-scenes issues this last season, Dustin prefers to keep to himself and has never publicly spoken out against the series or the network.

However, it is noteworthy that Dustin’s father, Fred, certainly did not hold back when the Hurts decided to part ways with Gold Rush before its fifth season.

According to Fred, the producers of Gold Rush: South America not only left them without options creatively, but he had also been “spending more for four years straight than [he] made” on Gold Rush.

This which is why he ultimately decided to part ways with the show.

Will Dustin even have a crew next season?

Diving for gold in the notoriously unpredictable and increasingly dangerous Nugget Creek is certainly a tall ask, and considering that Dustin’s crew walked away at the end of season six without a payout, it may be quite difficult for this claim owner to convince his crew to return for another season.

In fact, Kayla has already announced that she will not be returning for another season, stating that she just “can’t keep following someone else around with way less than satisfactory results each year, while dealing with unnecessary amounts of drama.”

And with Scott leaving mid-way through season six and Dustin’s father passing away earlier this year, Dustin will seemingly have his hands full trying to find enough people to keep the dredges going.

There may be big things waiting on the horizon

Whilst Discovery has not officially confirmed that Gold Rush: White Water is coming back for another season yet, we have it on good authority that this next season is already being filmed.

And as such, we feel like it is high time that we start speculating about what exactly is about to happen in Gold Rush: White Water’s seventh season.

Season six ended with Dustin’s Nugget Creek crew just inches away from finally getting to that pay dirt that they had been trying to reach all season.

And though the weather ultimately kept them from getting the gold, we do hope that Dustin will find some way to return to this spot next season.

Either way, there is just never a dull moment where McKinley Creek’s extreme weather is concerned.