The Toddfather Stakes His Claim in 'Hoffman Family Gold' — Why Did Todd Hoffman Leave 'Gold Rush'? (EXCLUSIVE)

From 2007 to 2009 the United States went through what is now called The Great Recession. The housing bubble burst which directly contributed to the destabilization of several financial institutions such as the Lehman Brothers, who went bankrupt. Like a rock dropped in a lake, this rippled outward to affect the entire global economy. In the United States, the unemployment rate doubled. Todd Hoffman was suffering because of this, so he turned to gold mining, a classic response.

Thank goodness he did because Discovery's Gold Rush was born from Todd's desire to make a better life for himself and his family. That family included his father Jack Hoffman, and a crew of Oregon men who decided to head north to Alaska to chase their golden dream. Todd remained on the show for eight seasons but left in 2018. He's been on his own, Hoffman Family Gold, since 2022. But we gotta know why he left Gold Rush.

In an exclusive interview with Distractify, Todd opened up about his decision to part ways with the show he created.

During the Feb. 16, 2018 episode of Gold Rush: Live, Todd dropped the big news that he was leaving Gold Rush. The show doesn't hide the fact that the gold mining crews do difficult work, which is grueling and takes them away from their friends and family. Todd is famous for making huge predictions that often didn't come to pass, so it's not surprising that he couldn't foresee what being on the show could do to his home life.

Todd revealed that while filming Gold Rush, he would be away from his family anywhere from six to seven months at a time and this separation had "taken a toll." Season 8 was also no particularly easy on the Hoffman crew; as Oregon Live notes, they bet Parker Schnabel's team 100 ounces in gold ($100,000) that his crew would find more gold.

Unfortunately, the Hoffman crew was plagued with issues, including a cease-and-desist from local Colorado officials. By the end of Season 8, they left with about 1,600 ounces of gold ($50,000) and had to pay the Schnabel crew from that profit. It stands to reason that after eight years and a frustrating eighth season, Todd was pretty much done.

Though he created the popular series, Todd exclusively explained to Distractify that he decided to "step back" from filming and focus on his family life.

"It just [came] to this point where I need to take a step back," Todd admitted to Distractify. "I need to raise my family, I need to do something else. And then to be able to have another shot at it to come back with half and finally gold is actually really cool."

It's no wonder that his second show is more family-focused while still retaining his passion for gold. Hoffman Family Gold places far more emphasis on Todd's loved ones, making sure that he can balance both things in his life in a more manageable way. And for the most part, he enjoys it a lot more.

"I honestly believe that even though Gold Rush is a great show," he continued. "[But] I think there's something that you're gonna see in Hoffman Family Gold that you miss from Gold Rush Season 1 [and] Season 2."

There's clearly no love lost for his old stomping ground on Gold Rush, but Todd is far more focused on being a family man while still digging up the gold.

New episodes of Hoffman Family Gold premiere Fridays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Discovery Channel.