Hannah Ferrier Made Great ‘Below Deck Med’ TV Because She Was so ‘Uncomfortable’
From Below Deck Mediterranean Season 1, chief stew Hannah Ferrier had that certain je ne sais quoi that made for compelling television.
Ferrier recently reflected on why viewers couldn’t get enough of her and it all came down to her feeling “uncomfortable” on the show. In the past, she’s talked about having anxiety while filming. And recently discussed how being around so many people on camera at once was simply awkward.
Hannah Ferrier said she was ‘uncomfortable’ on ‘Below Deck Med’
Ferrier addressed a fan’s question about how she dealt with working with a large camera crew and guests on the show. “So I think in some ways that was why I was so good on the show is because I was probably so uncomfortable a lot of the time,” Ferrier said on her Dear Reality, You’re Effed podcast.
“And when you’re uncomfortable, you react to things differently,” she continued. “We’ve all seen those behind-the-scenes shots of when they’re shooting Housewives in a massive restaurant and it still looks crowded. Like those cameras that they have are massive. The audio equipment that they have is massive.”
The ‘Below Deck’ crew sometimes had run-ins with camera and audio
Ferrier said the scramble on the show is very real. “So basically when you’re shooting Below Deck, someone like me who is head of department, I’m with the guests, I’m on service,” she recounted. “I’m dealing with the bosun, I’m dealing with the captain.”
“I would say 75% of the day I had a camera person and an audio person with me,” she continued. “So that is a lot. Because on superyachts, although they’re big and luxurious, they are big and luxurious for regular people. Not for a camera person with a big camera and an audio person with a massive audio piece of equipment. It’s like a lot.”
“And the amount of times that you have direct run-ins with cameras because we’re still doing a job. So we’re still moving about the boat as fast as we possibly can. And the one thing that they were very good with on Below Deck is, you can’t slow down. You can’t slow down service so that the camera people don’t have to move so fast because they’re carrying such a massive piece of equipment.”
“You just have to do your job and they just have to try and keep up. Because at the end of the day, if the guests go, ‘The food’s cold’ you can’t say like, ‘Oh I’m really sorry I was just going slowly to deliver your food so that the cameraperson could keep up with me,” she added. “It doesn’t work like that. The guest complaint is still going to come up on us.”
Hannah says some ‘Below Deck Med’ production crew were seasick
Ferrier recalled getting hit with the camera in the past when she would be moving fast. “And the amount of times I would get the camera to the head. Or I would have gone around the corner and run straight into the back of an audio person.”
“Luckily, we had a really amazing crew with us and they all understood that we were not filming in a regular environment like a massive mansion or out at a big restaurant,” she said. “So the good thing with Below Deck, they would bring the same camera and audio people who were very used to it. The only time that I would feel so, so bad for the audio and the camera people is, imagine this. You’re at sea, the boat is rocking, you have seasickness.”
“And then on top of that, you have a massive camera on your shoulder and you are having to look through the lens to shoot something and concentrate on that while you’re seasick while the boat is rocking,” she added.
