‘Below Deck Med’ Season 7: Malia vs. Raygan – Mzi Dempers Weighs in on Working for New Bosun [Exclusive]

Malia White definitely gives Mzi “Zee” Dempers bosun goals. The returning Below Deck Med Season 7 deckhand didn’t know who would be his boss for his second season on the show, but Dempers hoped White would return.

“I had no idea who the bosun was going to be,” Dempers told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “So if it was going to be Malia, I was going to show up and do a victory lap in the whole of Malta!”

Instead, the series welcomed Raygan Tyler as the new bosun for Below Deck Med Season 7. Tyler becomes the second female bosun in the franchise behind White’s two seasons in the role.

‘Below Deck Med’ Season 7 has a new bosun with a new style

Dempers said that White and Tyler have different leadership styles. “Malia was definitely lead from the front or lead by example,” he said. “That’s definitely something that Malia had in her personality. But at the same time giving an opportunity for others to grow. Malia wanted to teach you all the time and she wants to see people grow and do well and excel in their careers.”

Tyler appears to be a little more hands-off. In the Below Deck Med trailer, Captain Sandy Yawn tells Tyler to manage the deck team and she doesn’t want to be the bosun.

“I think for the beginning of whatever it is that we’re going through with Raygan, it’s just adjusting to not necessarily that high intensity in terms of having that hands-on, I’m going to do [all these tasks],” he said. “I think Raygan was still trying to find her feet in terms of how she wanted to be.”

Zee views Malia White as a role model

Dempers admitted that he had to adjust to Tyler’s management style and sees White as a role model. “For me personally, if I see somebody in any leadership position and they are absolutely crushing it and killing it, I place them up on a pedestal,” he said about White. “Because that’s where I want to be one day. And for me, for my first sort of official job getting into yachting, Malia was that person as a bosun.”

“And I think it’s a little bit harsh on my end to hold Raygan to that standard, without even knowing her,” he continued about the new Below Deck Med Season 7 bosun. “But I think from the get-go, I sort of had an idea of what a bosun should be or would be. And just different styles of leadership from what I was used to. So I think a bit of an adjustment on my end to get used to Raygan’s style. Which may be a little bit wrong on my end. But sort of I know what I look for and it was just an adjustment I guess.”

Why isn’t Malia White on ‘Below Deck Med’ Season 7?

So why didn’t White return for Below Deck Med Season 7? White told Showbiz Cheat Sheet she wanted to spend more time building her career in yachting.

“I haven’t left,” White said about returning to the show. “It’s not that I might never come back to the show. I’m just not on the next season. I got in a really bad scooter accident. And I’m studying for this big oral [exam], so it’s just a good time for me to take a break and take a step back.”

White’s break from Below Deck Med had nothing to do with the backlash she received after former chief stew Hannah Ferrier was fired. White and Ferrier worked together and shared a cabin on Below Deck Med Season 5. While moving into a new cabin, White found Ferrier’s prescription Valium and a vape pen. She snapped a photo of it and sent it to Yawn. Ferrier was fired mid-season.

“And the misconceptions are on the show [that] I got a lot of heat for the whole Hannah thing and all this stuff,” White said. “It’s like, I don’t hold any regrets or anxiety toward the show. It’s just what’s happened has happened and time to move on from it. Everyone’s learned, and it’s time to just kind of move on.”

Below Deck Med Season 7 premieres Monday, July 11 at 8/7c on Bravo. Peacock will offer early access to Season 7 with new episodes dropping one-week early beginning Monday, July 4.

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