‘Below Deck Med’: What Is Conrad Empson Doing Today?
Conrad Empson from Below Deck Mediterranean made a pretty big impression on fans and chief stew Hannah Ferrier last season.
The bosun with the boyish good looks and charm quickly became a fan favorite as he won Ferrier’s heart, but often seemed to be pretty distracted on the job. While Ferrier returned for season four, Empson took another path off the show.
He has kept a low social media profile for the past few months but recently re-emerged with what seems to be a new outlook on life. So where is Empson today and what has he been doing since leaving the show?
Captain Sandy and Empson never saw eye to eye
There was no love lost between Empson and Captain Sandy Yawn. She often had to re-direct Empson on charter to stay focused on his job rather than being focused on Ferrier. Although the two managed to make it through the entire season, Yawn knew Empson’s heart wasn’t into yachting.
During the season three reunion, Yawn had this criticism of Empson. “Conrad just didn’t do his job, Bravo’s The Daily Dish recounts. “You know, every time I looked up, he was like a little puppy behind Hannah [Ferrier]. That’s your mistake is that you actually think that you could call the shots.”
Empson seemed taken aback by Yawn’s comments and refuted them. But then Yawn said this. “What I admired about you when you came on the boat is you talked about you didn’t want to be in yachting, that you wanted to do what your father did. You want to work in yachting to make enough money to go out and buy houses and renovate them, and that, to me, is wow, he has a plan. At 23, that’s amazing.”
So did Captain Sandy call it?
Although the two did not want to work together again, Yawn’s observation about house flipping seemed to be pretty spot on. Only months after the reunion, Empson announced he was starting a new house flipping business.
Last October he made a big announcement on Instagram, “So it’s time to announce why I’m on Long Island, New York. I’ve come here to film my new series, where I’m going to be documenting my new venture. I invite you all to watch me on my new exciting journey of Buying, Renovating, and selling properties!”
‘Conrad Renovates’ launched on YouTube
Empson launched his own house-flipping show to document his journey of buying, renovating and selling homes in the New York area. He chatted with Showbiz Cheat Sheet in December about his new endeavor. “Ryan [a local Long Island realtor] reached out from Long Island area,” he said, “Some of my local friends, Kasey and Colin, from Below Deck Med live there. So I thought why not let’s look.”
The YouTube series, Conrad Renovates featured a weekly episode of Empson and his realtor touring some rundown, often hideous properties. Empson said he didn’t start the series to be back on television, but rather to just track his new project.
He even did a special Q & A episode about his experience on Below Deck Med too. Empson shared his most embarrassing moment on the show. “It was me saying to Hannah, ‘just go slowly with me’ or something like that. But it was taken phenomenally out of context, and it made me look like a wet paper bag. I’ve just been ripped nonstop by it by my mates.”
Is he still flipping houses?
Conrad Renovates appears to have hit a wall after about four episodes. Empson was active on social media until then but retreated after the holidays. He returned to England for Christmas and may have re-evaluated his game plan.
In January he hinted about new projects. “2018 was an amazing year, one that I never would have even dreamt of! From the people I met to the experiences I had … #Belowdeck being one of them! I’m so fortunate for everything that’s happened,” he shared on Instagram. “With it now being 2019 and some massive plans on the horizon I hope that it will be just as good! A bit late but happy new year to you all, I hope that this new year brings amazing things to you all!”
After the January post, he went silent until April. “Back after taking a break from social media,” he posted to Instagram along with a photo in the kitchen. “What’s cooking everyone?” He shared two other posts since, one with him in what appears to be a studio doing some recording. “Back in the hot seat …. 🎥 #filming,” he wrote. Empson appears to be soaking in plenty of family time too. He’s shared Instagram story posts of him running (he still hates it), plus his family just adopted two pigs.
