Below Deck has been on the Bravo network for 10 years now and has many hookups, boatmances, and a BOATload of drama. There are four different offshoots of the original Below Deck series including Below Deck Mediterranean (Med), Below Deck Sailing Yacht, Below Deck Down Under, and Below Deck Adventure. All of these occur in different parts of the world and have different captains and casts. Below Deck has gone worldwide, including many of the islands in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans such as Tahiti, French Polynesia, and Saint Martin. Below Deck Med and Sailing Yacht takes place in many Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Croatia, Spain, and Greece. Below Deck Down Under stays in Australia and Below Deck Adventure, for the one season it has been on air, took place in Norway.
If you watch Below Deck Down Under, proceed with caution because there are some spoilers from the season ahead. In the current season, the bosun (supervisor for the deck crew) was fired for sexual misconduct against the third stew (one of the interior crew members). But not only was the bosun fired, so was the second stew!
So, here’s a little breakdown for you:
According to People, in season 2, episode 7, the crew had a night out after the charter guests departed. Usually, the crew gets wasted at whatever bar or club they go to that night. After a drunken night out, they all took taxis back to the boat, in which the bosun and third stew were in the back. As they arrive back at the dock, the bosun says to the third stew that she should come cuddle with him in his cabin, which is not out of the blue for them because they have a short history on the boat. The third stew said that she wanted to go to bed on multiple occasions. The chief stew felt uncomfortable with how the bosun was acting on their way back so she decided that she would chaperone for a little bit to see her third stew get into bed safely. She did not want “any drunkenness to be taken advantage of.” Shortly after the chief stew said this. The chief stew then left to go to the crew mess leaving the third stew in her room alone. The bosun showed up in the third stew’s room telling her to come up to the jacuzzi. The third stew continued to say that she just wanted to go to bed, have some water, and not be with the bosun.
After some time, the bosun came down from the jacuzzi and took off his swim trunks. All of a sudden, the power to the boat completely went off.  At this time, the bosun had gone into the third stew’s room and climbed into her bed naked all while she was fast asleep. The producers started to tell him to get out of her bed and tried getting him to leave. He ignored their requests and when the lights turned back on, he got out of her bed; however, not to leave, but to push the producers and the cameramen out of the room, cursing at them and slamming the door shut. The producers repeatedly tried to open the door to get into the room telling the bosun that she said no repeatedly. The bosun soon walked out of the room frustrated. The second stew asked him what happened after seeing the producers intervene. Then, the chief stew went into the third stew’s cabin and told her what had happened. The third stew did not even realize that he was in there naked because she was so drunk. The chief stew stayed with her in her bed until she fell asleep and then went to wake the captain to tell him what happened. The bosun had locked himself in his cabin because according to the chief stew, he was freaked out that he got caught. After the chief stew finished telling the captain what happened, the captain grabbed the key to the cabin and made the bosun get off the boat and stay in a hotel for the night. The chief stew was more concerned about what could have happened if someone had not stepped in. This was very emotionally difficult for the chief stew because of her history of sexual assault that she had shared when she was a second stew on Below Deck Med in 2019.
The captain brought the bosun back onto the boat the next morning after having a meeting with the rest of the crew about boundaries being crossed and told him to pack his bags and leave. The crew were not allowed to talk to him or say goodbye due to the severity of the situation. Only the second stew was saddened by the bosun’s departure even though he was deemed a danger to the crew. She mentioned in multiple conversations with the third stew that she was sad that he was fired and would have been happy if he had come into her room instead. In my opinion, she was highly insensitive to the whole situation by not showing empathy towards the third stew and only being concerned with the bosun’s feelings. I think the worst thing that she asked was why could he not get a warning from the captain. The second stew then said the bosun did not mean it, and it was just a joke. Not only was she insensitive to a highly serious situation, but she herself was also getting a bit intense with one of the deckhands, according to the chief stew. He had told her to stop, but she continued her flirty behavior and excessive touching. After all of this happened, the chief stew brought it up to the captain and he ended up firing the second stew as well.
The producers getting involved and the captain firing two of his crew for sexual misconduct is all important because in season three of Below Deck Sailing Yacht, there were many concerns from audience members that the bosun had been assaulted by one of the stews on board. It seemed as though they were hooking up, but he was extremely intoxicated, which would automatically deem him incapable of consenting. On Andy Cohen’s Watch What Happens Live, he asked the bosun if he felt as though he was assaulted, but the bosun denied it. I believe that the producers heard what was going on behind closed doors and decided not to step in. There has been an improvement in looking out for the crew while on the boat, but the real question is; what else can they do to better their response to these types of situations?
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, you can call the National Sexual Assault Telephone Hotline at 800-656-HOPE (4673) or visit hotline.rainn.org.