After facing numerous accusations that his poor performances onBelow Deck Mediterraneanseason 9 were fake, Chef Johnathan “Jono” Shillingford might not be the only alleged producer plant among the cast. The ninth installment of the reality yachting series saw Captain Sandy Yawn return for her eighth season with the franchise. Thenow-late Captain Mark Howardstarred in season 1 before she took over his role as the captain ofBelow Deck Med. Over the years,the success of the spin-off has been on a downward spiral. The show fell from grace afterHannah Ferrier was firedin season 5.
Since her exit from the franchise,Below Deck Medhas cycled through new Chief Stews every year. Bugsy Drake, Katie Flood, Natasha Webb, and Tumi Mhlongo took over as Chief Stew in Hannah’s absence, but it wasn’t untilAesha Scott returned in season 9 that they found a suitable replacement. She starred in seasons 4 and 5 of the Mediterranean-based show before leadingBelow Deck Down Underin its first two seasons.Captain Sandy and Aesha became aBelow Deckduoin season 9, though they’re the only crew members who weren’t cast to start drama intentionally.
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Bri Muller Has Been Getting Special Treatment Like Chef Johnathan
Bri Wasn’t Fired For Her Many Mistakes In Laundry
Chef Jono made some clear mistakes during his time on season 9. He started the charter season strong but faltered during the second trip whenserving Captain Sandy’s friends chicken and a deconstructed sponge cakefor dinner. She was incredibly disappointed in his decisions and urged him to serve more creative and high-end dishes for the rest of the charters. Chef Jono did a pretty good job for the rest of the season but almostruined his reputation in the franchise with a near-fatal accidentduring the end of the ninth series.
He mistakenly served a guest with “iron overload” tuna carpaccio with pineapple caramel despite her pointing out she couldn’t consume it, or she might die. When she was presented with the dish, she commended the presentation before explaining that there was no way she could eat raw seafood. Captain Sandy caught word of what happened and confronted the chef about his mishap. He was disappointed in himself, as was the captain, and she requested his replacement immediately. Chef Jono isn’t the only crew member who received special treatment, asBri Muller was given multiple chances to prove herself as a stew.
Upon her entry into the crew, the third stew explained she struggled with laundry. No one could have anticipated just how poorly Bri would be at the task. Throughout season 9,she took a long time to clean clothing and many pieces went missing.Bri struggled to organize the crew and guest’s laundry, and both Captain Sandy and Aesha had to encourage her to improve. No matter how many times they threatened to fire her, she remained on the Mustique. Bri’s poor performance could have gotten her employment terminated, but she was likely kept around for contributing to the crew’s drama.
New Stew Carrie O’Neill Was Likely Added To Cause Drama
Carrie’s Addition To The Cast Came Out Of Nowhere But Also Made Sense
After working with Bri and Elena “Ellie” Dubaich as her two stews, Aesha was ecstatic to learn they hired another stew at the end of the season. Carrie O’Neill joined the crew to assist the Chief Stew asBri and Ellie weren’t pulling their weight.They notably fought the entire season over their mutual interest in lead deckhand Joe Bradley. Ellie admitted that she found him attractive and Bri disregarded her feelings and hooked up with him anyway. However, their hook-up derailed the success of the interior team, and the second stew took out her frustrations on Bri at every chance.
Joe continued to entertain both stews until Ellie overheard him singing about not being interested in choosing either of them.
Their feud finally ended after they wasted the entirety of season 9 fighting with each other and making Aesha’s job incredibly difficult.Carrie may have joined the cast so lateto potentially reignite conflict with the other stews. They blamed her late arrival on a leak in a cabin on the Mustique, though the crew could have fixed that earlier. Using the resolved cabin as an excuse forCarrie’s arrival hints production invited her because Bri and Ellie’s feud dissolved.
Gael Cameron & Nathan Gallagher’s Relationship Could Be Fake
Their Boatmance Was Real But Felt Exaggerated For The Show
Gael Cameron and Nathan Gallagher’s boatmancewas brewing from their first meeting. They felt an instant connection with each other despite Gael being in a relationship with a yachtie she met before season 9. However, the cracks in her partnership quickly showed, and they eventually broke up. While Gael’s boyfriend was criticizing her for not speaking with him much while she was working, Nathan was there supporting her.Her breakup came randomly to the audience, though there are many details the show didn’t includeabout Gael’s previous relationship.
Nonetheless,her boatmance with Nathan felt somewhat forced at times. After Gael was dumped, they went on a date during the charter season that felt manufactured for the sake of the storyline. There’s no denying that Gael and Nathan had feelings for one another, but theBelow Deckproduction team may have produced their date to exaggerate the seriousness of their boatmance. Gael had just broken things off with her boyfriend and was thrown into a boatmance with Nathan, which felt real, but the optics surrounding their relationship were odd at times.
Many Crew Members Have Been Accused Of Being Producer Plants
Below Deckproduction has been accused of planting crew members for the sake of reality TV moments over the years. Most notably, viewers speculated Chef Mila Kolomeitseva was a producer plant because of herpoor performance as a chefonBelow Deck Medseason 4. She was one of the most questionable chefs to ever appear on the show. Chef Mila struggled to prepare most dishes, and notoriously attempted to make pancakes from boxed mix and was caught licking steaks.She wasn’t a good chef, but she was a memorable crew member, and production loves creating buzz around their shows.
Chef Jono has been repeatedly accused of being a product plan ofBelow Deck Medseason 9. However, he’s not the only crew member who may have been cast to create drama on the show. Many of the season 9 yachties have had questionable performances but have been allowed to remain on the show, including his dear friend Bri.
Below Deck Mediterraneanairs Mondays at 9 p.m. EDT on Bravo, then streams the following day on Peacock.
Below Deck Mediterranean
Cast
Below Deck Mediterranean is a Bravo reality television series that follows a crew that works aboard a gigantic superyacht during the busy season. The show highlights the challenges of the crew as they serve their high-end clientele. Each season tackles new locations, such as Greece, Croatia, Italy, and France, with some repeating.
