After losing his mother, Rick Ness took a year off and largely disappeared from the 13th season of Gold Rush. He had decided to spend a lot of time on his own, and in the process, came to terms with his mother’s death. However, taking a break in such a competitive line of work can mean falling behind and yielding millions of hard-won dollars to competitors. Therefore, Ness decided to sell his mother’s house and use the money in order to rebuild his mining business.
In an episode of the show, Ness’ friend Zee Zaremba visits him at his home and finds out that he hasn’t been feeling well lately. He reveals that the previous mining season drained him and he’s been suffering from seasonal affective disorder. Zaremba isn’t happy with his response and mentions that he feels like he’s hiding something.
It’s important to remember that everyone handles loss differently. Some people take a long time to deal with it, and others can fall into depression almost immediately after the loss of a loved one. It’s possible that Rick was depressed after his mom died and he used drugs to cope with the sadness. In one episode of the show, some fans noticed that Rick’s face looked a bit different, and social media was abuzz with speculation that he had been in a fight or used cocaine.
The next season of the reality series will be its 14th, and while it isn’t clear if Rick will return to the series, many are hopeful that he will. After all, he is one of the best miners on the show, and the fans love him for it.
