Gold Rush Fans Have Some Choice Words For Fred Hurt's Son Dustin

Fred Hurt was a "Gold Rush" staple for a considerable stretch of the gold mining reality show's ongoing run, before he stopped appearing on the mainline series and began starring instead in his own spinoff titled "Gold Rush: White Water." On "White Water," Fred is joined by his son Dustin Hurt, who likewise transitioned from the cast of the original show to appearing solely on his dad's spinoff.

Though Fred and his considerable expertise may be the catalyst for "White Water," Dustin is an important player himself. Perhaps most reflective of his degree of TV stardom is Dustin Hurt's net worth, which is estimated to be somewhere in the ballpark of an even million dollars. However, while Dustin may be plenty successful, his run on "White Water" has drawn criticism from viewers on occasion. For example, Dustin arguably goes too far on "Gold Rush: White Water" in Season 5, Episode 3, when he separates his most experienced crew members from his greener associates, leaving the latter group without expert guidance. Furthermore, fans have encouraged Dustin to give up on one particular claim located in McKinley Creek, which seems to be posing danger to Dustin's crew without much payoff.

As it turns out, some fans have become tired of Dustin for these and other reasons, leading to some strong opinions about the "White Water" star circulating online.

Midway into "Gold Rush: White Water" Season 6, one user started a thread on the "Gold Rush" subreddit dedicated to their thoughts on Dustin Hurt, writing, "Fred's son is the worst isn't he? Worst attitude and everything." They then went on to suggest that, at the very least, some of Dustin's behavior may be for the sake of televised drama and not an accurate reflection of his real-life personality. Plenty of users then weighed in with their own opinions of Dustin, largely reflecting the original poster's point-of-view.

For instance, in the thread's most-upvoted comment, user popo341 argued that Dustin isn't skilled at fostering a positive team environment, and could benefit from generally maturing in life. Meanwhile, user Specialist_Wallaby17 argued that Dustin isn't "Gold Rush" material after suggesting that his TV persona is fabricated. That said, a couple of users, including krebstorm and itchy-and-scratch, blamed Fred, at least in part, for why Dustin might rub viewers the wrong way.

These sorts of sentiments extend to Twitter as well, where users like @tharealcolin and @BabyJujuJr1 replied to posts about Fred and Dustin with similar criticisms of the younger Hurt. If some of these users are to be believed and Dustin's persona is artificial and intended to rile up "Gold Rush" viewers, however, then it's entirely possible that generating these sorts of opinions means Dustin is doing his job.