Who is Tony Beets?

Originally born in the Netherlands, Beets grew up working on the family farm in the rural area of Burgwerd in the Dutch province of Friesland. When his father suffered a debilitating accident, Beets was forced to take over the management and day-to-day running of the farm, which meant he often found himself in charge of men who were more than twice his age! With little faith in the Dutch farming industry, in the 1980s, Beets emigrated to Canada in search of a better life, along with his wife Minnie. He has been nicknamed in his home town as 'Tony Bleep' due to his colourful langauge!

Beginning his new life in Canada, Beets went back to what he knew best- starting out as a dairy farmer near Salmon Arm in British Columbia. However, in search of a new and more profitable venture, Beets then bought a plane ticket to Whitehorse and found a job working on the oil pipelines of Alberta. On hearing from his friends that there were men earning $1,000 a week in the mines, he set his sights on an even more ambitious goal - to find gold!

Beets finally landed himself a job as a gold miner in the Yukon. A force to be reckoned with, over the years, he has earned himself a legendary reputation in the Klondike for his gold finding expertise. Today, Beets owns one of the largest privately held placer gold mines in the territory and the only running dredge in the Yukon. He puts his success down to hard work and perseverance.

With his tough, hard-lined approach, long beard and colourful language, Tony has made a name for himself on Gold Rush as 'The Viking'. In the new series, tough-talking Tony and Parker face off over royalties and land access in a confrontation that threatens to end one of their seasons before it's even begun...