‘Below Deck’: Amy Johnson Would Rather Work With Chef Rachel Than a Chef Who Goes Nuts in the Galley
Chef Rachel Hargrove from Below Deck seems to be on the crews’ last nerve as the latest episode indicates her “antics continue to torment the crew.”
Hargrove definitely cuts loose in between charters. She socialized with a restaurant full of people the last time the crew went to dinner. This time she gets so hammered during a resort getaway, she jumps on stage with the band and wants to belt out “Dancing in the Moonlight.” The crew is seen cringing as chief stew Francesca Rubi tries to nudge her back to her lounge chair.
Bosun Eddie Lucas was aggravated during the last dinner and continues to be mortified. And while Hargrove certainly likes to go rogue on her day off, former crew member Amy Johnson wants to remind viewers that unlike other chefs, Hargrove is the consummate professional at work.
Amy Johnson would much rather work with Chef Rachel than walk on eggshells in the galley
Johnson explained why she’d choose to work with Hargrove over other yacht chefs. “Not only does she kill it, but she’s got a great attitude and she’s wonderful for people who work with her,” Johnson recently told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “I would take that any day. A chef just letting loose when you’re off. Most chefs are really temperamental and dramatic and you’re walking on eggshells in the gallery. And Rachel is the exact opposite.”
“Not only is she a phenomenal chef, but she also has the disposition to work really well with the team,” Johnson continued. “And so I would take that any day over a temperamental chef, that maybe it’s a little more subdued on their days off.”
She also explained how Hargrove’s behavior at the resort was completely different than the drunken behavior displayed by deckhand Dane Jackson during season 3. “His [behavior] was aggression,” she recalled. “I guess everyone handles their liquor differently. But his was aggression and so far out of line that it was like, ‘Okay, this is not cool.’ Rachel just wants to have a good time and get the band singing. Appropriate or not, but she’s just wanting to have fun.”
Amy Johnson worked with temperamental chefs on ‘Below Deck’
Johnson worked with chef Leon Walker and chef Ben Robinson. She said Walter was slightly terrifying because he didn’t talk. “You know, it was interesting with Leon because he didn’t say much,” she recalled. “You didn’t know if, like, those daggers were like … he was going to bring out his knife set and start throwing knives? Or if he was just going over the menu in his head.”
“You never knew what to expect from him because he never really talked that much,” she continued. “And that’s always a little scary to me. I’m like, tell us what’s going on in there, so we can, you know, move past it. But he was just so reserved that you just didn’t know which way he was going.”
Working with Robinson was an entirely different experience, but just as scary. “You just never know what you’re going to get with that one, right?” she laughed. “Yeah, he’s very entertaining and I enjoy him personally. But professionally, he’s a little tough to work with because you’re kind of doing a song and dance to whatever temperament you’re doing that day or that meal because it would change a lot.”
Below Deck is on Monday at 9/8c on Bravo.
