‘Below Deck Sailing Yacht’: Does Byron Hissey Realize He Really Is the Sh*t Stirrer of the Show?
Byron Hissey from Below Deck Sailing Yacht says he is fully aware that he sometimes stirred the pot on the boat and often managed to walk away unscathed.
Cameras would often find Hissey making a provocative observation about a tense or emotional situation. Then he’d walk away, leaving the crew to fight it out.
Hissey told Showbiz Cheat Sheet he knows he can stir the pot, but he also ended up being the honorary dad on the boat. “Self admittedly I was occasionally responsible for stirring a bit of the drama,” he says. He jokes about how viewers might see him as being behind some of the drama created on the series.
However, Hissey says years working in the yachting industry has helped him navigate the more dramatic waters that come with the job. It also helped him guide some of the younger crew members.
“I usually have my finger pretty good on the pulse on what’s going on the boat,” he shares. For example, he knew the minute chief stew Jenna MacGillivray and chef Adam Glick started flirting, it was a recipe for disaster.
Byron Hissey ended up being the ‘dad’ for some crew members
“A lot of times that people are having trouble in their departments or having problems with other crew members, I ended up being a little bit of the dad on the boat,” Hissey remarks. “And the younger guys especially would come to me if they had a problem.”
For instance, he recalled how Parker McCown would complain about Glick riding him for not making his bed. “It’s like dude, go make your bed, I’d tell him,” Hissey says.
Hissey also recalls being a mentor and guiding McCown when he was on the show. “Parker and I got along really well and I spent a lot of time educating him about proper yacht etiquette. Like making your bed and explaining a little bit about the hierarchy of how it works.”
Hissey and Captain Glenn Shephard also became even closer during the show. The two would often exchange some inside jokes that production missed showing on the series.
Hissey has a tender spot in his heart for Madison Stalker
Even though Hissey was sometimes the one to bring up tough topics, he said he was extremely empathetic to the pain Madison Stalker endured. Stalker confidentially shared with Georgia Grobler that her sister had been murdered. When Stalker’s behavior seemed erratic at dinner, Grobler privately revealed to Hissey what had happened.
“All the classic psychological signs were there,” he says. “And I didn’t find out until very late in the season what the actual situation was with her sister. But it’s obvious she was suffering or mourning. And she had some trauma throughout her life. It was obvious that she was still dealing with issues that weren’t fully resolved.”
He said he was heartbroken for Stalker and they did end up talking. “But the thing about Madison is that she’s always running from her feelings. She hasn’t learned to process what she’s going through. So she’s always trying to remain falsely positive.”
Hissey recalls certain positive mantras Stalker would utter to keep herself going on the yacht. He adds that Shephard was also keenly aware of what Stalker was dealing with but her behavior would often be confusing to the crew.
And as for the combustible romance between Glick and MacGillivray?
While MacGillivray and Glick remained professional, Hissey says it was obvious when the couple was fighting.
“Jenna would wear it on her face, and then I would say, ‘Hey, you know, you’ve been stomping around the boat with a frowning face’ and I’d say, ‘What’s going on?'” That’s when she’d come clean and tell him she’d been fighting with Glick.
He’d be there to listen and she’d open up to him. Hissey says he would also try to give her a new perspective on the fights, which she was open to hearing. But he had an entirely different approach with Glick.
“I had the same outlook toward Adam as well, but it’s no secret he’s a bit of a prickly pear,” Hissey says. “So you’ve got to tread lightly when you’re trying to console Adam when he’s in a grumpy mood. You never know if he’s got the tendency to throw something (like a knife).”
Below Deck Sailing Yacht is on Monday at 9/8c on Bravo.
