‘Below Deck:’ This Is the Biggest Reason Why Chief Stew Adrienne Gang Did Not Want to Return to the Show
New Below Deck fans may not realize that Kate Chastain wasn’t the chief stew for the entire series.
The show actually opened with Adrienne Gang as the chief stew who was just as tough and detail oriented as Chastain. Like Chastain, Gang clashed with her stews but found a way to create a working relationship and meet the guests’ needs.
While Gang did not return to the show for the second season, she did make an appearance. She buddied up with a group of charter guests and ended up having dinner on the yacht much to the crew’s horror. So why didn’t Gang return and how does she feel about the series?
She was upset with Chastain’s ‘rocket ship’
Chastain felt attacked by a guest so she passively aggressively made a blanket fold in the shape of a “rocket ship” (penis) on his bed. Yachting magazine Dockwalk asked Gang what she thought of the blanket fold. “I’m over it,” she told Dockwalk in 2014. “I was horrified. I feel like they have destroyed everything I have built.”
She admits that she was hurt she wasn’t asked back. But when she saw what conspired on season two, she was happy to not be associated with the show. “I’ll be honest, at first I was a little hurt,” she said. “But now, if this is what Bravo wants? I’m okay with it.”
Gang adds that her season was drama filled, but it was contained mainly to the crew. “What made the first season really good was that it was genuine conflict among people who were trying to learn each other. I think it was very authentic. … We shattered the glass wall on the fact that crew really have drama. [Our owners] aren’t stupid, but we all did a magnificent job and managed to keep it together in front of the guests.”
She called out ‘Below Deck’ for this
Crew members often spill about the charter guests in confessional interviews. They don’t hold back, which got under Gang’s skin.
“Watching the crew turn on the guests is horrifying to me. I feel like [Bravo] is encouraging a ‘mean girl’ attitude,” she told Dockwalk. “It’s become an ‘us’ vs. ‘them’ mentality. Since when does yachting encourage that?”
While Gang admitted the guests stressed her out, she wasn’t about bashing them either. “They’re [crew] given all the rein in the world to degrade the guests. Nothing is scripted,” she remarked. “I’m cringing for the guests every time. Who in their right mind is going to pay next season to have the crew tear them apart?”
She added, “I don’t want to be part of a culture that promotes bullying. If this is what Bravo wants, I don’t want to be part of it. Watching everything going on now is what the yachting industry was anticipating last time. This is what I was attempting to avoid.”
Where is Gang now?
Gang has come a long way from that first season. She recently got married in Florida and some Below Deck and Below Deck Mediterranean crew members attended.
She is also no longer a chief stew. Instead, Gang is now a chef. “I work on several different boats. I used to work permanent, but now I just freelance, and I’m able to do a lot more and take care of these other projects,” she told Bravo’s The Daily Dish.”Still do a lot of charters, still do a lot of freelancing, but I’m a chef, primarily.”
Earlier this month, Gang was busy gearing up for another charter. She tweeted, “I hope everyone enjoys #BelowDeckMed@BravoTV tv tonight! I’m busy provisioning for a trip to @VisitTheBahamas! See you all next week!”
