People who enjoy watching the multi-national pay television network Discovery Channel, have most certainly seen at least one episode of the popular reality show “Bering Sea Gold”, known as “Gold Divers” in the United Kingdom. It’s divided into two sub-shows: “Bering Sea Gold” which airs in the spring and follows the summer dredging season, and “Bering Sea Gold: Under The Ice”, which airs in the fall and follows the spring dredging season. Both of these depict the people who are searching for gold in Nome, Alaska USA; “Bering Sea Gold” has been airing since 2012, and today stars Emily Riedel, Shawn Pomrenke and Mike Rowe.
Emily Riedel appears to be the most popular amongst the entire cast, and we’re about to share more details about her life.
Who is Emily Riedel?
Emily Riedel was born in California, USA on 4 July 1988 – her zodiac sign is Cancer, and she holds American nationality. Besides being a popular TV personality and gold miner, Emily is also a successful opera singer, and a YouTuber who has amassed nearly 30,000 subscribers on her self-titled channel.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CXcTjHfFCs1/
She was raised in California alongside her brother Nate, and their sister whose name remains undisclosed, by their father Steve Riedel and their mother; not a lot is known about Emily’s family, because she respects their privacy, but without naming her, has revealed that her mother has been struggling with dementia and Alzheimer’s. Emily grew up being interested mostly in music, and practiced singing while attending a local high school, while she also learned to play various instruments. Emily matriculated in 2006, and then enrolled at the University of Southern California, from which she graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in music and vocals in 2010.
Emily didn’t even think about becoming a gold miner during her education, however, her childhood friend Zeke Tenhoff became a miner, and he convinced Emily to try it for herself.
Emily’s career
Upon graduating, Emily needed more money to pursue her Master’s degree, and it was then that she was advised by Zeke to join him in his search for gold in Alaska.
She was introduced to the show’s fans in its first season, and was initially a diver before becoming a deckhand. Emily continued working the same jobs in the second season, while steadily learning more about the gold mining business and its procedures. It was in the third season that she became the captain of a deck, widely believed to be partly because she was the fans’ favorite. Emily has since been holding the same position, and today even has her own vessel: Eroica Mining.
Her net worth has been estimated at over $300,000 as of February 2022.
Emily’s hobbies and interests
Emily has revealed a lot about herself through her role in “Bering Sea Gold”, and we have learned that she enjoys spending her spare time outdoors, and is a fan of sports. Her social media accounts are filled with pictures which feature her mountain biking, scuba diving and skiing, while a couple of the other sports which she likes include cycling and off-road driving.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=409125690572954&set=pb.100044265797812.-2207520000..&type=3
Emily is a huge fan of tattoos, and has one on the back of her right shoulder, another on her left ankle, and the writing ‘Gjoa’ on her left arm, which was the name of her first boat.
She’s still deeply passionate about music, and can often be heard humming or playing instruments in the show “Bering Sea Gold”.
Emily is a lover of animals, and has a husky pet dog which often keeps her company while she’s working, but doesn’t go with her when she’s on her boat.
She’s more spiritual than religious, and believes in Indian gods and their mythologies; this is why Emily enjoys practicing yoga and meditating, while she also has multiple training sessions at the gym every week.
Her appearances in other shows
Emily has appeared in a total of 12 reality shows, including a couple of “Bering Sea Gold” spin-offs.
In 2012, she was in the episodes “Gains and Losses” and “Risks and Relations” of the talk-show “Bering Sea Gold: After the Dredge”, which featured her and her cast members talking about their experiences in gold mining; the same year saw her star in the adventure movie “Bering Sea Gold: Back to the Dredge”.
She appeared in the 2013 episode “Bering Sea Gold Dredgers” of the talk-show “The Jeff Probst Show”, as well as in an episode of the talk-show “Larry King Now”.
In 2014, Emily could’ve been seen in an episode of the news shows “Varney & Company” and “The Insider”, and she appeared in eight episodes of the documentary series “Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice”.
She has since made a guest appearance in an episode or two of a couple of popular talk-shows, such as “Home & Family”, “Steve Harvey” and “Josh Gates Tonight”.
YouTube channel
Emily launched her YouTube channel on 30 May 2007, and it today numbers close to 2.5 million views of all her videos combined.
Most of her videos document the strange and unexpected things which usually happen to her during her everyday life, and we’re going to mention three of Emily’s most popular YouTube videos, which have helped her attract many subscribers.
Her #1 video “The RIDICULOUSLY expensive cost of living in Nome, Alaska (you won’t believe how much water costs)” has been viewed more than 1.3 million times since 21 October 2021, and features Emily speaking about how much various items cost in Nome.
Her second most watched video “Prospecting (stealing?) gold on Alaska’s largest dredge. | Behind the Dredge w Emily Riedel | Pt 15” has been viewed close to 200,000 times since 16 September 2021, and shows Emily and her colleague as they’re going to the largest land gold dredge in Alaska, the Dredge 5. It was initially built in 1941 by the Alaska Gold Company, and hasn’t been working for the past two decades, while Emily and her colleague now want to check if they can find any gold there.
Her third most popular video “Why isn’t Emily Riedel on Season 14 of Bering Sea Gold: Under the Ice? OFFICIAL ANNOUNCEMENT 2021” has been viewed more than 150,000 times since 28 October 2021, and features Emily talking about why she didn’t appear in the 14th season of “Bering Sea Gold”. She mostly did this because of the various rumors which were circulating the internet, claiming that she was fired or that she had quit for unknown reasons, however, she has explained that she had other obligations, and would be returning for the show’s following season.
Social media presence
Emily is followed by close to 40,000 people on Instagram, and has uploaded over 1,000 pictures onto the network, most of which have been taken during her everyday life, many featuring her skiing and snowboarding, as well as spending time with her husband.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CYNaU5gJ9ez/
She launched her Twitter account in December 2011, and has since amassed nearly 15,000 followers, while she’s tweeted more than 1,500 times, mostly focusing on the show “Bering Sea Gold”, and her upcoming appearances in talk-shows.
Her Facebook page is today followed by close to 200,000 fans, and Emily tends to update it at least once a day.
Emily’s husband
Emily was previously in a relationship with Ezekial ‘Zeke’ Tenhoff, who built his own dredge from scratch in 2008, and called it The Clark. Zeke was born in Alaska, and thus learned to survive in its harsh climate at a very early age. The two were in a relationship when they began working together, but things soon fell apart; they acted as mature adults and remained friends, while they have since helped each other on a number occasions, with Emily helping him financially, and Zeke providing his diving and prospecting skills.
Zeke is today believed to be in a relationship with a non-celebrity American girl Sarah Dunn.
Emily is today a married woman. She met her future husband during the coronavirus lockdown in April 2020, and has revealed that it was her brother who had set them up. They became engaged in January 2021, and married on 7 May; a couple of pictures taken during the wedding can be found uploaded onto Emily’s Instagram account. She hasn’t shared many details about her husband, but it’s known that he had previously worked in Chicago and Washington D. C. in sales and consulting, and that he has moved to Homer, Alaska to be closer to Emily.
It has recently been revealed that Emily is pregnant, and expected to give birth in March 2022.
https://www.facebook.com/318208968220766/photos/pb.100044265797812.-2207520000../5423223917719220/?type=3
Other cast members of the show “Bering Sea Gold”
The cast of the show “Bering Sea Gold” numbers more than 10 people, most of whom have their own dredges, and one of the most popular amongst them, besides Emily, is perhaps Shawn Pomrenke. He and his father Steve Pomrenke are the owners of the dredge Christine Rose, which they are maintaining together with their deckhands Cody Moen and Robbi Wade. Shawn loves to talk to his fans, and often finds time to respond to their questions and messages in general on Reddit and various social media networks; conversely, he’s revealed that he doesn’t watch the show. His net worth has been estimated at more than $3 million; it’s believed that he found close to $1 million in gold solely in 2016.
Ian Foster is the owner of the dredge Sluicey, while his friend Scott Foster is his main diver; the two are not related.
The two are also musicians, and are today members of their own band The Foster Brothers.
Vernon Adkison is the owner of the dredge Wild Ranger; its captain is Scott Meisterheim, and their two main divers are Jason Walker and Steve Riedel (Emily’s father). Vernon left the show in 2016, but returned for its 11th season, and revealed that he was still searching for gold during his off-screen time. Prior to becoming a gold miner, Vernon was a Merchant Mariner and a commercial ship pilot. His daughter Yvonne has also appeared alongside him in a couple of episodes of “Bering Sea Gold”; it’s known that she spent a year in jail in 2014, after she was charged with substance abuse.
Suicide of a diver
The diver John Bunce committed suicide in 2012, although the episode in which this was covered aired only a year later.
He was a diver on Zeke’s ship The Edge, and the two were close friends. He was found by the Nome Police Department on 1 September 2012, at a house on First Street, and it was later revealed that John had died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. He was a professional truck driver, licensed diver and Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER) worker. John’s ashes were scattered at Bering Sea’s Norton Sound.
Emily has spoken about the time when she was also close to dying. She was diving without realizing that she had only a little of oxygen left; Emily ascended as fast as she could, but was 30ft (9m) away from the dredge upon reaching the surface and couldn’t get to the dredge by herself because she was exhausted, but she was spotted by other crew who rescued her.
How fake is “Bering Sea Gold”?
It’s widely known that none of the reality shows are 100 percent real, as they would then probably be boring to watch.
Some things in the show “Bering Sea God” are certainly controlled by the producers, as it’s important to add a bit of drama and danger to make it all a bit more interesting to watch; nobody would enjoy watching a show of which all episodes are predictably the same, or you only get to see people during their everyday search for gold. An example of an exaggerated situation was when Brad Kelly’s baby was born, because it was reported that the baby and the mother’s lives were endangered, while both were actually safe and sound.
Fans also believe that the physical altercation between Vern Adkison and Scott Meisterheim was scripted – the producers have claimed that it wasn’t.
Overall, most of the show is believed to be real, with some added drama by the producers to keep it interesting.
