For years, followers of “The Curse of Oak Island” tuned to look at a revolving door of solid members seek for the elusive “Cash Pit,” however maybe one of the memorable was Dave Blankenship, the treasure-hunting comedian reduction who was all the time able to dig deep — and guzzle a glass of Crown Royal. However by the point Season 8 rolled round in 2020, Dave was notably absent, leaving viewers questioning what occurred to everybody’s favourite Oak Island resident.
To completely perceive the explanations behind Dave’s departure, it’s a must to take a look at the early beginnings of the damaging actuality TV sequence. The Historical past Channel present follows Rick and Marty Lagina as they deploy heavy equipment to unravel a centuries-old thriller off the coast of Nova Scotia. However lengthy earlier than the Laginas arrived, there was legendary Dan Blankenship, Dave’s father, who spent over 50 years excavating the island. Dave joined in his father’s fortune-seeking campaign within the Seventies, establishing himself as a everlasting island resident.
Regardless of fan theories about well being struggles through the pandemic, the true cause for Dave’s departure was way more private. In accordance with followers on Reddit — who level to a since-deleted Fb remark (through Imgur) that seems to have been posted by Dave himself — he felt the present’s producers disrespected his late father, Dan, who handed away in 2019. In correspondence with the web site Mysteries of Canada, Dave revealed he retired as a result of the manufacturing determined to gloss over his father’s historic contributions, kicking Dan’s a long time of labor off to the facet and turning the highlight on the Lagina brothers as an alternative.
Dave Blankenship’s ultimate look was in The Curse of Oak Island: Drilling Down
In a candid 2023 Q&A with The Oak Island Compendium, Dave reiterated that sentiment, explaining that he formally retired after the “Dave Blankenship’s Oak Island” episode of “The Curse of Oak Island: Drilling Down” — which aired in February 2021 — as a result of the workforce left “50 years” of his dad’s legacy out of the narrative (observe: “Drilling Down” is a separate companion sequence hosted by Matty Blake).
At this time, Dave is fortunately having fun with his retirement. Though he and his spouse, Garnette, nonetheless dwell of their dwelling on Oak Island in shut proximity to the manufacturing, his days of digging are over. He revealed that he is had zero contact with the Laginas, telling the Compendium that, not solely has he distanced himself from the present, however Rick hasn’t spoken to him in years. “If I do not cease and speak to him, he won’t make an effort to talk to me,” he stated of Rick. “I by no means did watch the present and I do not know of anyone on the crew that watches it.”
Nonetheless, Dave retains his father’s reminiscence alive by way of personal photographs and residential films, content material to let others chase the island’s mysteries whereas he enjoys a well-earned relaxation. As for ever returning, he advised the Compendium: “I left the present and won’t return, it’s the Rick and Marty present. It is concerning the brothers.”
Along with watching it on the Historical past Channel, episodes of “The Curse of Oak Island” are additionally out there on a number of the finest streaming companies corresponding to Hulu, Prime Video, and Tubi, in addition to different exhibits about historical past.
