The Below Deck franchise launched in 2013 on Bravo, with multiple spin-offs following suit. This nautical series introduced our plebian, land-dwelling selves to luxurious yachts, gaudy tablescapes, and exotic locations. I remember watching this series’ first group of yachties struggling to please their demanding charter guests in Season 1. As exhaustion set in, these crew members then began turning to (and on) each other (in anger, and sometimes, in lust), and needless to say, the drama hooked me like I was the biggest bass in town. But sometimes, the storylines have been over the top, birthing the following infamous moments within the Below Deck franchise.
Below Deck: When Ashton nearly got killed, but a cameraman saved him
Halfway through Below Deck Season 6, Ashton Pienaar almost lost his life. This incident occurred when a line used to tow tender boats wrapped around his ankle, pulling the deckhand into the sea. As Rhylee Gerber sounded the alarms, all hands quickly arrived on deck. Thankfully, a quick-thinking cameraman named Brent Freeburg was nearby, and thanks to him, Ashton is still alive.
When Captain Lee Rosbach heard Rhylee speak the two words no captain ever wants to hear, aka “man overboard,” into her walkie-talkie, he quickly took their yacht out of gear. Meanwhile, on deck, Brent wasted little time. He dropped to his knees while setting his camera off to the side and rapidly loosened the tow line tethered to the yacht. This action freed Ashton from having his ankle ripped off by the vessel’s taunt line, which would have seen him drowning while bleeding out to death in the water.
Afterward, a shaken Ashton swam to the nearby tender. Later, the crew watched footage of this near-fatal moment, overcome with thankfulness that Ashton survived this now-infamous moment on Below Deck.
Below Deck Down Under: When the crew and production stopped a possible sexual assault
Below Deck Down Under Season 2 had two separate infamous moments, so take heed with this trigger warning, as this section includes details involving two accounts of sexual assault. To protect your mental well-being, please stop reading here if this topic causes you harm.
First up, Bosun Luke Jones got wasted on a night out. In the sprinter van hurling back towards their boat, Luke set his sights on a stewardess named Margot Sisson. Margot was equally trashed, for the record. Therefore, once onboard, she headed to her cabin to sleep.
Luckily, Aesha Scott caught on to the vibes Luke was giving. To help protect her blacked-out stew, she crawled into bed with Margot, watching over her for a bit. Once Aesha left, however, Luke entered. As he climbed on top of Margot, production realized that Margot could not consent, so they intervened.
Once they kicked Luke out of Margot’s cabin, Aesha appeared. She woke up Captain Jason Chambers, who kicked Luke off the yacht. The next day, Luke lost his job. This firing greatly upset Laura Bileskalne, another yachtie without boundaries.
Laura blamed everything but Luke for his actions, including Margot. It was gross. But when Adam Kodra told Laura no, and she kept gunning for him, she sealed her fate next. After her firing, Aesha and Captain Jason comforted their crew, showing off their solid leadership skills following these back-to-back infamous situations onboard.
Below Deck Med: Chef Mila’s homophobia and terrible cooking skills
Chef Mila Kolomeitseva from Below Deck Mediterranean Season 4 was something else. To be clear, I burn toast. Yet, I probably would have handled her charters better than she ever did. Due to her rampant showings of homophobia, her personality sucked too.
Even though Mila stepped on board with an impressive resume, it quickly became apparent that she had a case of Lieabities. She used Aunt Jemima’s pancake mix instead of fresh ingredients, but even these failed to thrive on her watch. And then she microwaved (and licked) the guest’s steaks, making me dry hurl in turn as I watched from my couch. Her canned nachos, which Hannah Ferrier, backed by Captain Sandy Yawn, refused to serve, signaled a final warning sign that Mila’s resume was a sham. No cap.
Mila also struggled outside the galley. Her words struck a nerve with 99.9% of the viewers and 100% of her cast. To paraphrase, Mila thinks being gay is abnormal and wrong. On Watch What Happens Live, Captain Sandy handled these statements well, noting that she has no idea what Mila’s childhood in Russia was like. Captain Sandy also refused to let the social biases of her infamous (for all the wrong reasons) chef affect her mindset, like a boss.
Below Deck Sailing Yacht: Captain Glenn crashes the yacht
When Captain Glenn Shephard isn’t eating massive crackers on his breaks, he’s in the wheelhouse, driving the Parsifal III on Below Deck Sailing Yacht. In Season 2, however, Captain Glenn crashed his sailing yacht into a dock. To date, this crash is the largest one that’s taken place on Below Deck.
In one season, the Parsifal III crashed twice. The first time, the winds kicked up, causing Captain Glenn’s deckhands to lower every available fender on board. The yacht rubbed the deck, and the damage was thankfully minimal. But only a few beats later, the crash that topples all other crashes transpired.
When a malfunction occurred in the engine room, the Parsifal III crashed into a different dock, causing the ship to collide with the wall. “I’m f*cking going ahead, but I’ve lost it,” Captain Glenn said to himself as his crew shouted at him to slow down. “F*ck me. God d*mn it. F*ck,” he yelled as his vessel launched everyone onboard into a path of mass destruction.
Thankfully, no lives were lost or harmed. The yacht’s insurance kicked in to repair the dock and the boat, and the season continued without any further crashes. That said, I will never forget watching Captain Glenn’s face as he realized he was about to crash on national television. Say it with me; this moment was an infamous one on BD.
Below Deck: Eddie and Rocky’s boatmance
During Below Deck Season 3, the quirky mermaid-like stew that stole my heart, better known as Rocky Dakota, admitted she was attracted to Eddie Lucas. Once Rocky learned Eddie was in a long-term relationship, she stopped flirting with the Bosun. Eddie then began making covert advances towards Rocky. A secret affair emerged, with laundry room hook-ups becoming their norm, as back then, this area held zero cameras.
However, they still wore their attached mic-packs. And also, various camera crews were often awake. These video vixens followed Eddie and Rocky to film their mating sounds, which seeped out from their closed laundry room doors. “Eduardo loves the ladies,” we heard, as Rocky loved whatever Eddie was doing, as proven by her sounds.
But once their fellow yachties began to catch on to their romps, Eddie denied their flings. He even labeled Rocky a liar whenever she spoke the truth about their dalliances. It was not Eddie’s brightest moment in this series. But this infamous, secret boatmance forever changed the course of this franchise, as additional cameras went up for all further seasons.
Below Deck Med: The saga that led to Hannah being fired
Hannah and Captain Sandy worked together for many years. More often than not, sadly, they clashed, as Captain Sandy found Hannah’s work ethic (and passions) lacking, while Hannah felt like her boss was nitpicking her every move. In Season 5, things finally reached a point of no return, and Hannah got canned.
It all started when Hannah ticked Malia White off by refusing to give up her cabin for Tom Checketts, the guy Malia was dating. Tom was coming on as their replacement chef, so Malia wanted to bunk with her man instead of Hannah. After Hannah said nope, Malia snapped a photo of her undeclared anxiety medications, and then she sent her shots to Captain Sandy. Sharing is caring, am I right?
Captain Sandy then fired Hannah. Making matters worse, Captain Sandy followed Hannah off the yacht, further berating her already beaten-down former stew. Thankfully, these two have since made amends. It’s called growth, and we love to see it.
Below Deck Sailing Yacht: The toxic Gary, Daisy, and Colin love triangle
Season 1 of BDSY was dismal. Thankfully, in Season 2, three new staples walked on. Daisy Kelliher, who still holds the title of chief stew in this series, found herself wrangling two of the same men for many years. Three, if you count Captain Glenn.
Right off the bat, Daisy and Gary King carried a flirtatious bond, but Gary was a man of the night, aka a player, so nothing serious ever formed here. Colin MacRae, however, had a girlfriend during their first two seasons of filming. But both he and Daisy would later admit that they dug each other. When Colin returned single and ready to mingle in Season 4, Daisy was all in, and they started a boatmance, which Gary low-key hated.
Gary claimed that Daisy was moving on with Colin, not him, out of spite. Therefore, Gary continued flirting with Daisy. Daisy failed to shut his flirtations down, which frustrated Colin.
Nevertheless, Daisy and Colin continued to grow close, so Gary dropped a bombshell midseason. He and Daisy slept together in between Seasons 3 and 4. Realizing that this was being filmed, Daisy’s face clinched, as now she’d have to tell Colin this fun news.
Colin was upset, but he persisted. Sometime after Season 4 wrapped, he and Daisy sadly parted ways. Colin began dating a former fling, which annoyed Daisy, who called him out on this at their reunion. Only time will tell how this infamous trio either heals or sinks on BDSY, should all three ever return to filming at the same time, that is.
Below Deck is currently streaming on Peacock.
TELL US – DO YOU REMEMBER WATCHING THESE INFAMOUS MOMENTS FOUND THROUGHOUT THE BELOW DECK FRANCHISE? DO YOU HAVE ANY ADDITIONAL MOMENTS TO ADD TO OUR LIST?
