Gold Rush fans were extremely disappointed to find out that miner Rick Ness was not coming back for Season 13. However, that disappointment turned to concern after crew member and friend Zee paid Rick a visit on camera at his Milwaukee home and Rick revealed that he was struggling with depression and seasonal affective disorder.
“I got back from mining last year and, you know, I crashed hard,” Rick said to Zee after being asked why he didn’t return to mine this season. “I always do, you know? I put in so many hours up there, you know? I spend a couple weeks — I just sleep and I catch up, right? This year I just haven’t been able to get out of that.”
Rick then shared some specifics. “I mean, there’s seasonal affective disorder [SAD] that they think I have, and then just depression at night,” he revealed. “It’s tough for me to accept because I didn’t grow up like that,” Rick added.
Zee asked whether or not the passing of Rick’s mother in 2018 was still having an impact. Rick admitted that he was still struggling with her death. He revealed to Zee that he owns his mother’s house and “it’s like she never left right now.” He added that he hadn’t been to the house in two years. “I haven’t been able to go up there,” Rick admitted.
In a confessional, Rick elaborated more about his state of mind at the time that the scene was filmed:
I am doing better, but it’s, uh — there’s just a lot of things that I don’t understand still, you know, with what I’m — whatever this is I’m going through. It’s, you know, it’s tough. Zee brought up my mother passing, and you know, I don’t like talking about it because he’s not wrong. Or, you know, I have her house and, like, I haven’t been there in two years, and, you know, I probably need to go there, I think, to face it. Maybe that’ll help, maybe it won’t. Once again, that’s the frustrating thing about it, I don’t know what’s causing it. And I think that’s — I don’t know if you ever know. When I’m ready, I will be gold mining again. I just don’t know when that is.
Rick Ness Is Engaged
Rick shared some very positive news on Facebook yesterday. He posted two photos, including one of a poorly decorated cake, and added a lengthy caption. “It’s been a busy week so far with a couple things worth noting,” Rick wrote. “First I found out I’m no cake decorator when I was attempting to personalize this cake for my favorite girl’s birthday. Happy birthday babe, enjoy this mess.”
Rick went on to elaborate a little more about his “favorite girl,” who may soon make her status official! “Speaking of my favorite girl, she’s been with me through one of the toughest years of my life,” Rick revealed. “From top to bottom, beginning to end and everywhere in between she has been there for me and so I wanted to make sure I can do the same thing for her. That’s why I decided to make her my favorite girl for the rest of our lives.”
Rick then referenced a rather large ring he is wearing in the photo that reads “SUCK IT” before diverting our attention to another ring. “I may be sticking my fist out in this picture but it’s not about the ring on my hand, it’s about the one on hers..”
Here are the photos:
It appears as though Rick and his fiancée are in a jewelry store, so I am assuming that he invited her along to pick out her own ring? Regardless, I want say CONGRATULATIONS to Rick and his bride-to-be!
Gold Rush producer Christo Doyle shared a similar supportive message in the comments of Rick’s Facebook post. “Huge congrats to you both,” Christo wrote. “That is going to be one hell of a wedding.” Hmmmm… Perhaps Gold Rush fans will be seeing the ceremony on screen soon? They could do a special episode titled “The Road To Happy Ness.”
Who is Rick Ness’s fiancée? Rick’s favorite girl will be familiar to Gold Rush fans as she has appeared on the show numerous times. It’s his (former) girlfriend Leese M. Arie.
Viewers may recall during Gold Rush Season 12 when Rick was down a rock truck driver and Leese stepped up and offered to fill in. She certainly seems like a keeper! 😀
Here’s that clip with Leese:
UPDATE – Leese shared a video from the jewelry store on TikTok and Instagram. “He proposed on the 21st, and we picked the ring out together,” she said in response to a commenter. “Love that he gave me the opportunity to choose it together ❤️🥰.”
https://www.tiktok.com/@lil_hurricane_/video/7158220085167967530
We will keep an eye out for any additional info about the couple’s wedding plans. Meanwhile, be sure to keep up with the other miners trying to overcome sky-high gas prices and increased regulations with new episodes of Gold Rush airing Friday nights at 8/7c!
UPDATE – We have some unfortunate news to report for fans of Rick and Leese. Less than a month after their proposal, Leese broke things off after allegedly catching Rick cheating on her — and she says it wasn’t the first time.
#GoldRush Rick Ness and fiancée Leese Arie break up amid cheating allegations. Leese: "If only the public really knew exactly who he is. No one would ever believe it…He's cheated on me literally countless times." 🙁 https://t.co/vQQI8zyIwS
— Starcasm (@starcasm) November 22, 2022
Rick Ness Facebook Posts
The passing of his mother and his struggles with mental health issues have been difficult for Rick to talk about, but he has talked about them. Here are a couple of his Facebook posts from the past year and a half in which he really opens up and puts himself out there:
May 9, 2021 – There is so much I want to say, so much I should say, so much I can’t say, so much I wish I could say… I’ve accepted all of this, and I can honestly say, if I had her back for just one day… the one and only thing I would say, and the one and only thing that she would need to hear me say, is I LOVE YOU MOM. So to those that can, please use this day, to say what I can no longer say, I mean in person anyway, and make sure your mother knows that you appreciate her in every way and that you love her every day, just as much as you do on Mother’s Day.
*I feel the need to make it clear, that I, in the much less than perfect way that I am, had absolutely no big lead up and thought put into this post about my mom. I don’t mean that I don’t think about her often or that I don’t miss her terribly but I didn’t think about, agonize, write or revise what I thought would be appropriate and deserving as a tribute to my mom who at 58 was taken from her family and the world by cancer way to early in 2018. I am no perfect son, no perfect man, no perfect anything, and I will never claim to be. Now that its out of me, I’m modestly proud of the words that in the moment, came from my heart, into my fingers, onto the keyboard of my phone, and then out into the world but I am very aware that it is a product of who I am, and who I am is a product of where I came from, who I came from and how I got here, exactly the same as everyone else. So for that reason, I want to thank my mother for her large role in helping me become who I am today and ultimately being responsible for my ability to properly thank her for it. Happy Mother’s day to all mom’s and especially you, my late mother, Judy Marie. I love you
October 7, 2022 – This year has been a tough one for me. I want to start off by admitting that, as someone who had never dealt with mental health issues, I was uneducated about it and often even viewed it as over exaggerated.
After the death of my mother, I put that whole experience in a little box and shoved it way, way down so that I could deal with it at a time when I was better prepared and had more time. I learned that there is never a better time, and it will come screaming back at you when you least expect it if you try and ignore it. That coupled with the stress of every day life is very real.
Admitting that was very hard for me, but I am now working on how to understand and cope with my mental health and I encourage anyone who is struggling to do the same. Please know, you are not alone.
Thank you all for checking in and don’t worry.
WE’ll BE BACK.
Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com
