Congratulations are in order for one of our favorite miners, Zeke Tenhoff. On May 14, 2022, Zeke took to social media to announce that he is now engaged to the lovely, Alexis Alamillo.

Zeke tends to keep his personal life private and doesn’t share a lot on social media so when he announced his engagement on Saturday, friends and fans quickly flooded the comments with well wishes and congratulations for the happy couple. His new fiance proudly showed off her new bling on social media along with a with some pictures of their adventures together so far. 

Growing up in Alaska tends to breed a different type of person, one who is more independent and resourceful, traits Zeke has in abundance. Since the very first episode in the first season of Bering Sea Gold, Zeke has been a fan favorite and for good reason. The young miner was only in his early 20s when the show premiered and he already had a few seasons of gold dredging under his belt. While he could be fun and playful when not working, Zeke was extremely serious when it came to gold mining. No one can deny his strong work ethic and determination to find the gold and stay on it. 

Known for being able to find the gold and not being afraid to take chances, Zeke embodies the spirit of the old time gold miners who came to Nome in the 1898 Gold Rush looking for adventure and riches along with that pioneer ingenuity. Not only is he mechanically inclined, but he appears to have a 6th sense to read the sea floor. 

Nowhere else was that more evident than on the dredge he built, The Clark. Each season Zeke worked to make his dredge bigger and better, to catch more gold and stay out on the Bering Sea longer. The only obstacle that seemed to stand in Zeke’s way of finding more gold was finding a crew that could keep up with him. He pushed himself to be the best but it came at a price as we watched our favorite miner get more stressed over the years and ultimately, burned out.

After struggling with some personal issues, Zeke disappeared from the show after Season 9 to take some time off, travel and try his hand at some other jobs but gold mining is in Zeke’s blood as he’s repeatedly said on the show and in interviews.

“It’s kind of ridiculous to think I could do anything else but gold mining.” Zeke said on his return to not only Nome but also to the show in Season 13. Fan were excited when he returned as gold reach record highs and he built his craziest dredge idea yet, a sailboat dredge, the Black Swan. It’s great to see him on our screens again, happy and smiling. His new fiance might be the reason for that spark we’ve see back in Zeke.

Zeke’s future wife, Alexis, is an artist and professional rigger/engineer, with an impressive resume that includes working for Cirque du Soleil, Burning Man and various other festivals and arts centers. She has an extensive background in rigging, so maybe she can help Zeke on the Black Swan.

She sounds like the perfect match for our resident Mad Scientist. We wish them a long and happy life together!