How Can You Tell if a ‘Below Deck’ Crew Member Will Be Fired?
Below Deck seasons begin with so much promise. With handshakes and optimism, crew members and the captain begin each season with gusto.
But cracks begin to show as more demands are placed on the crew. Some crew members may seem too green or so experienced they become cocky. Plus, the division of labor may become murky as some crew members seem to do more work than others. It often takes significant turmoil or ineptness for a crew member to be fired, but it has happened on more than one season of the show.
Are there any telltale signs a Below Deck crew member isn’t going to last the entire season? Fired crew members provide a template for what help determine who might be fired.
Getting too personal with the guests
Although the Below Deck crew delivers five-star, personalized service, they aren’t supposed to get intimate with the guests. This is a rule that deckhand Danny Zureikat broke on Below Deck Med. Zureikat not only got snuggly with a guest, but he was also obsessively photographing them. Of course, the final nail in Zureikat’s coffin was not being able to stay off of Instagram while on charter. But his close and personal relationship he tried to form with a guest really annoyed Captain Mark Howard.
Zureikat also messed up by getting caught kanoodling with the guest. In another season of Below Deck Med, Bobby Giancola makes out with a charter guest on a jetski. But he makes sure no one is around (except a bunch of cameras and the production staff).
Being a confident jerk
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Sometimes just being overly extra can get you a plane ticket home. Chief stew Kate Chastain told The Decider what raised a red flag about former bosun Chandler Brooks. “He was so falsely confident,” she said. You can tell, if somebody comes in and they’re talking a little too much, a little too friendly, you know they’re not a yachtie because in close spaces like that…”Plus, “He shows no emotion, he shows no excitement, he shows no nothing, so he responded exactly how Chandler responds to everything.”
Another hard-headed fired crew member was Chef Leon Walker. Walker insisted on serving the same basic meal (beef cheeks anyone?) and could not handle constructive criticism. While he was fired for maintaining a dirty oven, which was the impetus to a kitchen fire, his cockiness prevented him from a harmonious relationship with most of the crew.
And while deckhand Don Abenante ended up quitting, he often acted pompous on deck and would bark orders at the other deckhands.
Being inept
Most crew members are given more than enough chances to gain traction. For example, third stew Kasey Cohen lied on her Below Deck Med resume. And couldn’t do most of the skills she said she could perform. However, she worked hard and impressed Captain Sandy Yawn with her tenacity. However, deckhand Chris Brown’s too chill demeanor was to his detriment. He often seemed lost on deck, usually not pulling his weight. He was fired when Captain Lee Rosbach had to bring in additional deck help. And he had nowhere left to sleep in the boat.
Also, Dane Jackson’s big issue was getting so hammered, he threatened the crew, even though he was not on charter. And while third stew Caroline Bedol quit, she was ill or injured for most of the season. She was often unable to contribute to the interior team, which frustrated her co-workers.
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