Is Gary Drayton Going to Be Replaced by His Daughter Katya on ‘The Curse of Oak Island?'

If you've watched The Curse of Oak Island, then there's a good chance that you've caught metal-detecting expert Gary Drayton on the program.

The series often enlists his help in unearthing the purported treasure hidden away somewhere in Oak Island. Or, at the very least, objects that could help bring the team one step closer to finding it.

Recently, however, fans of the series have wondered if Gary is still on the program.

Recently, Drayton enlisted the help of his daughter, Katya, who has been metal detecting with her father since the age of 7.

Now, it appears that Katya may very well become a fixture of the show. In her debut case with the Oak Island crew, she managed to unearth a significant find.

While investigating Smith Cove with Jack Begley and Craig Tester in a recent episode, she spotted a shard of iron that could possibly be linked to past underground structures in the area. The metal was sent off to the team's resident researcher for further analysis.

While she was featured in the episode alongside her father, there's some speculation as to whether or not her introduction into the series was done as a "soft launch" to possibly bring her in as a replacement for her father.

It's not like Gary hasn't been featured in the show's twelfth season. Interestingly, however, according to IMDb the last episode that Gary is listed as being a part of in Season 12 is episode 9, "Brick by Brick."

That bit of television aired on Jan. 21, 2025. Prior to that, Gary was also featured in Episode 8, "A Bead on the Target." And then before that, he was also in Episode 7, "It's All Your Vault" the week prior.

"Graves Concerns," which was Oak Island's tenth entry in its current season, didn't feature Gary performing his metal-detecting duties with the team.

According to his IMDB credits page, Gary isn't listed in any episodes past Episode 9.

There are a few speculations that could be made from Gary's absence from these episodes. First, it should be mentioned that he is listed as being featured in 170 of the show's total 236 episodes.

This means that either Drayton's services weren't required in these episodes, or he had other engagements that prevented him from filming with the rest of the show's cast.

However, the timing of him missing these four consecutive episodes along with the arrival of his daughter Katya may seem like a maneuver from production to introduce someone with the Drayton name who provides a comparable level of technical acumen that her father does.

While it doesn't seem that there's been a confirmation for a Season 13 of the show, it's difficult to imagine that there won't be one. After all, the show has been a ratings success.

Currently, it's listed as the No. 1 most viewed show on the History Channel, and is the 75th most popular program on television.

So there's a good chance that the network isn't going to give up such a widely watched program with a dedicated fan base. We'll just have to wait and see if Gary's back on for that one if and when it does indeed come back.