Katya Drayton is an American metal detector expert and a fledgling reality TV star, mostly recognized due to her efforts in the History Channel’s long-running reality series The Curse of Oak Island. Being the daughter of longtime treasure hunter and popular reality TV cast member Gary Drayton, Katya is a second generation of metal detecting skills brought to the show.
In the 2024-2025 filming season, she became part of the Oak Island team on record with her own expertise in technical skills and a fresh perspective on the old treasure hunt as a member of a new generation. Her participation marked a significant extension of the essence of detecting activities of the show, especially at the hard-to-dig excavation site of Smith Cove.
Katya Drayton Biography | |
|---|---|
| Real Name: | Katya Drayton |
| Birth Date: | 2000s |
| Age (as of 2025): | 20s |
| Birthplace: | Pompano Beach, Florida, USA |
| Parents: | Gary Drayton and Jennifer Gail Sauve |
| Boyfriend: | – |
Early Life
Katya Drayton grew up in Pompano Beach, Florida, in a family that had a rich background in metal detecting and artifact recovery. Even as a young girl, she was exposed to the methods and training of the trade through the mentorship of her father, Gary Drayton, who is well known for his top pocket finds on The Curse of Oak Island.
Katya is said to have started metal detecting when she was seven years old, whereby she was taught the basics of metal detecting, including how to locate targets, how to recover them, and how to handle the artifacts by trial and error.
Besides being exposed to treasure hunting at a tender age, Katya is also a competitive sportswoman who competed as a child. She was a good figure skater, and in 2016, at the age of about 12, she won the Pre-Juvenile Free Skating Division at the Sunshine State Games in Coral Springs, Florida.
This experience in competitive sports helped her to be disciplined, focused, and physically strong, qualities that proved valuable later in the field-based detecting work. Katya Drayton studied middle school at Somerset Pines Academy.
Although we are not publicly informed of her subsequent educational career, her early introduction to metal detecting was a kind of on-the-job training, giving her the practical experience of technical skills and not the more conventional classroom-based education in either archaeology or geology.
Katya Drayton Career
The breakthrough in Katya Drayton’s professional career occurred when she appeared on Season 12 of The Curse of Oak Island in 2024–2025. She was formally joining the excavation team of the show, also known as the Fellowship of the Dig, and would specialize in sensitive metal detection in complicated and water-contaminated areas.
Her first screen appearance occurred mostly at the Cove of Smiths, which was a historic site of Oak Island, linked to the appearance of flood tunnels, seawater intrusion, and deep vertical shafts. Her assignment is challenging and strategically valuable, as the site is widely regarded as one of the most technically challenging to explore.
Katya was very close to her father, and she helped him to scan, locate, and retrieve metallic targets to undergo additional scientific examination. Katya has been credited in the series with discovering a major iron artifact at Smiths Cove, which was then recorded and analyzed by the material science experts on the team.
Her level-headed, procedural nature and knowledge of the detective tools earned her the professional title of Metal Detection Expert in the show. After a successful introduction in Season 12, Katya appeared in Season 13 in November 2025.
Personal Life
According to the latest information publicly available, Katya Drayton has not been open about any romantic relationships, and there are no confirmed facts about her dating or being married. She has not talked about her personal love life in interviews, on social media, or in official press releases. To this end, her social presence still revolves around her career, personal family history, and her involvement with The Curse of Oak Island as opposed to her social life.
Social Media
Katya Drayton has a small but confirmed social media presence on Instagram with the handle of @katyadrayton_detecting. Her account has more than 4,500 followers and a couple of posts, most of which revolve around her everyday life. In contrast to most reality television stars, Katya has a very sparse social media presence that implies that she values privacy and a professional life more than an influencer-based activity.
Katya Drayton Net Worth
The net worth of Katya Drayton has never been publicly reported, and there are no confirmed financial estimates. Being a relatively new television personality, it is assumed that she derives most of her income through her involvement in The Curse of Oak Island. This would be a speculative net worth valuation at this point in her career and thus cannot be mentioned as such.