‘Below Deck Med’: Malia White Addresses Why She Was Smiling and Laughing During the Reunion
Bosun Malia White took some heat for her reactions during the Below Deck Mediterranean reunion.
Some viewers shared on social media they could not believe White was laughing or smirking during serious moments or conversations. “Am i the only one who hates seeing malia smirking the whole reunion,” one person shared on Twitter.
“Malia and her condescending smirk,” a Twitter user remarked. “Can’t stand her.” Others noticed that White was laughing and grinning during inappropriate moments in the show. “I kept saying the same thing! If Malia wants to be a captain she better learn to control her face. It was so disrespectful!” another person wrote.
Malia White shares why she was laughing and smiling
White must have realized her reactions looked misplaced and addressed the comments. “PSA: I wasn’t laughing at anyone during the reunion,” White shared on her Instagram story. “Deck crew had a lot of behind the scenes group chats & drinking games taking place for some fun!”
“While Andy was addressing someone directly we were having a little fun in the background!” she continued. “The way it comes across on camera is obviously different to the reality of it.”
Some people still don’t buy it. “Malia’s smirk, especially while Kiko was talking, just sums up everything that was terrible about this season of BelowDeckMed She is a smug, egocentric person and it’s gross,” one person tweeted the day after the reunion. “Can’t even get started on Sandy…”
Viewers are still angry with White
Viewers hoped the reunion would provide some semblance of closure. This season, White snapped a photo of chief stew Hannah Ferrier’s prescription valium, vape pen and passport holder. She shared the image with Captain Sandy Yawn who then fired Ferrier.
At the same time, White’s boyfriend immediately took over as chef after Yawn fired chef Hindrigo “Kiko” Lorran. Many viewers called foul insisting the season was not only staged, but designed to favor White.
Executive producer Nadine Rajabi insists nothing was staged and the season was shocking for her too. “I have to be honest. My heart sank,” Rajabi told Vanity Fair about the moment when White found the medication. “It was very shocking.”
Producers say nothing was set up this season either
Rajabi also said White’s boyfriend, chef Tom Checketts was not a plant. “That was not a setup,” Rajabi said on the Reality Life with Kate Casey podcast. “I know it looked like it, I promise you it wasn’t. And [Christine] Bugsy [Drake] as well. There were two other second stews that were lined up and they both fell through. So that was a last-minute thing.”
“Tom was always supposed to come,” Rajabi added. “Sandy was actually looking for another chef. It was tough to find another chef. At the time we had somebody else lined up, and some things happened. It was another female chef and she couldn’t make it.”
“So Tom staying was kind of a Godsend in that sense,” Rajabi continued. “He’s a very qualified yacht chef like he’s on huge boats. He was in Europe and he’d flown back home to see Malia and then he was going to back to the UK to see an uncle who was very sick, who unfortunately I do not believe is with us anymore.”
