What Did Johnny Damon Think About Being on ‘Below Deck Med?’
Baseball fans went wild when two-time MLB All-Star Johnny Damon was a charter guest on Below Deck Mediterranean.
The baseball great is used to cameras in his face. But he said vacationing on the show was an entirely different experience than what he anticipated. “I guess we were expecting a camera to be in our faces, so when it wasn’t we were saying ‘huh, this is very simple.’ But, you know having the camera on you on the baseball field was like an old hat to me,” he told Sports Illustrated. “I got so used to it and played so many games (2,490, to be exact). This was definitely a different experience.”
He also dished about what it was like to be on the show. Plus why he jumped in to help deckhands with the jetski during the latest episode.
They weren’t fans, but they are now
Damon and his wife admit they hadn’t watched Below Deck Med before agreeing to be on the show. “Yeah this was kind of new to us,” Damon told Sports Illustrated. “We heard of the show bud hadn’t seen it, so we went and watched one show and said ‘oh perfect, it’s all about the crew we don’t have to worry too much.’”
The couple and their friends started looking into the opportunity after Damon’s wife, Michelle Mangan received a message about the show. “It was an email that shows the boat, all the places it goes and kind of gives you a description of what the trip is all about,” she said. “Of course it looked amazing so we were like ‘heck yeah!’”
Although the Damons sampled the show before appearing, some of their friends didn’t want to see the show because they wanted the experience to be a surprise, Decider reports.
What was the experience like?
The couple had a positive reaction to being on the show. Damon said the experience resulted in a “great trip.” Mangan laughs about how she isn’t sure if the crew could handle them for a repeat trip.
“I’m already telling Johnny to look at going back, but we don’t know, but we don’t know if the crew can handle Johnny again,” she told Sports Illustrated. “It would definitely have to be different friends [both laugh]. I told him we should do one with all baseball players and do like a baseball trip.”
Damon told Decider the experience was actually quite relaxing. “I feel like it was a relaxed time. We wanted to play water sports and enjoy the beach and enjoy cruising. We were very lucky to get our suitcases because our flight from Orlando was delayed because of a tropical depression up in New York. So we sat on the ground, we missed our flight and we were hoping our bags were found. Fortunately, I was able to get that shirt in plenty of time.”
As for that jetski…
At one point during the episode deckhand Colin Macy-O’Toole and bosun João Franco had a hard time getting a jetski back on the boat. The water is choppy and the equipment isn’t cooperating.
Instead of the other deckhands springing into action, here comes Damon to give the guys a hand. Decider asked Damon about that moment. “That’s just what I do. I’m a helper. I don’t like idle hands, so if someone needs help to do something, I’m always there to try to make things go quicker so we all can relax and have a good time.”
Catch more of the Damons and their friends this Monday on Below Deck Med on Bravo at 8/9c.
