Why Gold Rush's Parker Schnabel Had A Feud With One Of The Cameramen

Parker Schnabel is all too familiar with the trials and tribulations that take place when you're mining for gold. Such expeditions require a massive amount of spending upfront to get all of the necessary equipment and personnel. Once that's taken care of, there's no guarantee the team will find as much gold as they need to in order to turn a profit. As such, it should come as no surprise to learn that tensions can run high, and a poor relationship can spiral out of control if you're not careful.

Seeing as how Schnabel has been on Discovery's "Gold Rush" since the first season, it's safe to say he knows what he's doing. He has a good eye and ear for knowing what sites to dig at to earn a fortune. Part of that experience also entails knowing how to get along with members of your team so that they'll want to work for him, but in some instances, it's just too hard to find any common ground. That's why it's noteworthy when the "Gold Rush" mainstay got into a feud with one of the cameramen working for the show.

Given his penchant for mining, it should come as no surprise that Parker Schnabel's exploits have expanded beyond "Gold Rush." He's also spearheaded spinoffs, most notably with the three-part docuseries "Parker's Trail." As the show's namesake, Schnabel had the opportunity to assemble the team who would venture into the wilderness with him, and as he told PEOPLE, he took his "Gold Rush" acquaintance Rick Ness, wilderness guide Karla Ann, and cameraman James Levelle. 

Schnabel had worked with all of them in the past, but something happened over the course of filming "Parker's Trail" that soured his relationship with Levelle. While he praised Ness and Ann in the PEOPLE interview, he had this to say of Levelle, "James and I got into it quite a bit. I just don't really like the guy. I thought I did before this all really started. I haven't spoken to him almost since it ended." According to Schnabel, it was merely a matter of conflicting personalities: "It had nothing to do with the TV side of it, our personalities just didn't quite jive. It comes out a little bit on the show, but with something like this, it's hard to get it on camera, and that's not my priority. But James and I had quite a few issues. I had a real problem with some of the things that he did."

Schnabel hasn't spoken about the feud in the years since the season aired, but it's unlikely the two ever made up. It sounds as though whatever schism formed between the two was just too significant to repair.