Malia White is back in fine form for Season 6 of Below Deck Mediterranean. She is rocking it professionally, looks fantastic, and has already caught the eye of one of her deckhands. Like it or not, but she has come out relatively unscathed from the drama of Season 5 in which her strategically timed reporting of Hannah Ferrier’s medication led to her dismissal from the boat.
Then there were the uncomfortable moments when she had to coddle then-boyfriend Tom Checketts in the galley. Her association with the petulant and over-wrought Tom did her no favors professionally. Below Deck Mediterranean fans did not see many happy interactions between the two of them. So when Malia announced their split in September 2020, it didn’t come as a massive shock. There were unconfirmed rumors that Tom had cheated.
Tom tried to sneak back into Malia’s life and onto our screens this season on Below Deck. He texted her on last week’s episode. Malia revealed that he is hoping to rekindle their romance. So it was a hot topic for Us Weekly and Malia spilled the tea and explained how she found out that he was cheating on her.
After dating for over a year, Malia found out “through a friend” that Tom had cheated. Then “all hell broke loose.”
Malia said, “yeah, we were, you know, working on different boats. It was in the pandemic [that] had just happened. So, it was impossible for us to see each other. It was right when the show is coming out, it’s obviously a lot going on in our lives. And, yeah, he found someone else on his boats, and I didn’t know for a couple of months.”
Wow. That’s harsh. And it explains Malia’s hesitancy about boat romances. And the absolutely charming David Pascoe just expressed an interest in her. As for Tom, Malia said, “he’s very sorry. He’s apologetic. He wants to get back with me, but wow, not for me.”
Not now either. Career-focused Malia is not wasting any time entertaining Tom’s requests. While she is open to the idea of rekindling the romance, she is not in any hurry to do so. They haven’t even spoken since corresponding on the show.
“You learn; you live and you learn,” Malia continued, “I think, in hindsight, I probably would not have loved for him to come on the show. I was never really dying to work with him on the show. I kind of wished we would’ve kept those two things separate. I think that would have helped our relationship a lot.”
Malia may not value Hannah’s privacy, but she makes sure to manage her own image. At the time of the split, she wrote, “my personal life seems to be quite the topic at the moment. I am not on Twitter. I don’t do a lot of Instagram Lives, so I thought I would send out a message in my own words. Yes, Tom and I have split. The details surrounding all of it I am trying to keep a little private just out of respect to him and I. But yes, I am single.”
Another Instagram post read, “cheers to all the ladies out there in their 30’s, single, focused on their careers & that give zero f*cks!”
Let’s see if Malia sticks to her convictions of avoiding Tom and boat romances in general. Will she keep her guard up with David?
TELL US- WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MALIA’S EXPLANATION? SHOULD SHE GIVE TOM ANOTHER CHANCE? WILL SHE AND DAVID HOOK UP THIS SEASON?
[Photo Credit: Bravo/Laurent Basset]
