Monica Beets: The Gold Rush Excavator Operator and Tony Beets’ Daughter

Monica Beets is a cast member of Discovery Channel's Gold Rush and the daughter of veteran miner Tony Beets. She grew up around heavy equipment in the Klondike region of Canada's Yukon, which is a large part of why viewers find her comfortable on screen operating machinery.

Her role on the show

On camera, Monica is most often seen as an excavator operator moving pay dirt for her father's operation near Dawson City. Gold Rush follows several mining crews through each season as they race the Yukon's short summer to recover enough gold to cover costs.

The Beets family

Tony Beets is one of the show's longest-running personalities. His family is closely involved: Monica's brother Kevin Beets also features in the series. Her mother is Minnie Beets.

Marriage and private life

Multiple entertainment sources report that Monica married Taylor Mayes in a ceremony in Dawson City in August 2018. Beyond that, details about children, income and day-to-day life vary from site to site, and we do not repeat anything that cannot be traced to her or the show itself.

Is the show scripted?

Like most reality television, Gold Rush is edited for drama, but the underlying work, from permits to equipment breakdowns to gold recovery, is real mining. Fans often point to Monica as an example of a worker whose skill speaks for itself.

What to read next

If you enjoy profiles of people from unscripted TV, see Joe Kenda, the homicide detective turned TV host.

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