Malia White Reflects on Challenges of ‘Below Deck’ Fame – ‘It Can Be Hard to Defend Yourself in the Public’
Malia White from Below Deck Mediterranean recently reflected on how notoriety from being on reality television has benefits but plenty of drawbacks too. Total Ship Show podcast host and friend Amanda Logan also weighed in on how fame changed White.
Malia White said ‘Below Deck Med’ fame is a mixed bag
A fan asked White about how she deals with fame. “It’s been so strange because I’m from a really small town, Pleasant Hill, Oregon,” White said on her Total Ship Show podcast. “And so I just didn’t really understand it at first. When people are like, ‘Oh my God, you’re Malia from Below Deck.’ I was just like, ‘What’s happening?'”
Logan couldn’t help but bust on White, joking about how she leans into fame when she visits her in Colorado. “What Amanda is saying is it can be quite exciting, but then other times it can be quite exhausting, especially reading articles that are maybe just absolute garbage and you’re like, no, that never happened,” White said. “Or that’s not how that happened. It can be hard to try to defend yourself in the public. Before, nobody knew or cared who you were. Now they’re like, ‘Oh, you’re wearing that? And dating him?’ And I’m like, ‘Get off my case!’ Yeah, it has its ups and downs.”
Fame forced Malia to grow up
Logan thinks Below Deck Med fame forced her friend to grow up. “I think it’s changed Malia but in a really positive way,” Logan said. “Going to college with her, she always had all the boys chasing her … It’s true. And was just doing her own thing but just very carefree.”
“And I think if anything, she’s kind of been forced to slow down a little bit if that makes sense. Like, I think it’s changed her in a really positive way,” Logan added. “You have to grow up when you’re in the public eye, even if it is just a little bit. So I think that it forced her to be like, OK, now I’m not in college anymore, you know?”
Malia White recalled how she had a ‘chip on her shoulder’ during ‘Below Deck Med’ Season 2
White recalled how she had a chip on her shoulder during Below Deck Med Season 2. “At first I was like oh my gosh I look crazy,” she said on the first episode of her Total Ship Show podcast. “But I was OK with it because that was me, I was very reactive and very flirtatious. And I had a big chip on my shoulder like, I’m here to prove myself.”
“Now I’ve kind of grown up and kind of mellowed out,” White added. “And as I step into more leadership roles, I see myself kind of chilling out a bit more and kind of realizing I don’t really need to prove anything so much anymore. I don’t have a huge chip on my shoulder. I’m not the younger version of me that still trying to fight life.”
