Can’t come back from that! The Below Deck franchise has had its fair share of chaos over the years, but there were some moments that stood out more.
During season 7 of the Bravo show, chief stew Kate Chastain and bosun Ashton Pienaar had a scary confrontation when the latter was drunk after a night out. Ashton ended up punching a window in the van that was taking the crew members home.
“I was scared but also just in shock,” Kate explained to Decider in December 2019. “I was in a place where I could not have escaped if I wanted to. I played possum, just froze and held still. Why is [Ashton] so mad right now? Why is he punching windows? Why is everybody screaming stop the van? What’s he gonna do? What is happening? It all kinda happened really fast.”
Following an extremely tense season, Kate wasn’t sure there was anything she could have done to change those chain of events.
“I was working with illogical assholes. I don’t know what I could’ve done differently. I was outnumbered but also it was a very bizarre situation,” she added at the time.
After major backlash from fans about the men’s treatment of the women on board, Ashton apologized for his behavior during the Below Deck reunion.
“I was completely drunk, I was out of my mind, I’m sorry for that,” Ashton emotionally told Kate in February 2020. “I hate the fact that everything has been spun the way it is. But you know what, I have to take responsibility for that because I’m the one that behaved the way I did.”
For the bosun, that moment forced him to take a look at his behavior.
Kate announced her departure from the Bravo series after the explosive season wrapped in February 2021 with a funny nod to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.
“After many months of reflection and internal discussions, I have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new land based role,” the Bravo personality wrote via Instagram, jokingly quoting the couple’s wording after they stepped down from their royal duties. “I intend to step back as a senior member of the Below Deck Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support His Majesty Andy Cohen.”
Scroll down for more of Below Deck‘s shocking moments:
During Kate's debut on Below Deck in season 2, she divided the other crew members when she built a "rocket ship" on a guest's bed out of a blanket. Even though Kate later confessed to Captain Lee that she did it because the guest had offended her, her coworkers couldn't help but notice the similar phallic shape that the blanket formed. Andrew H. Walker/Shutterstock
Former chief stew Adrienne Gang created a huge stir when she returned to season 2 of Below Deck, but this time as a friend of the guests. During her brief appearance on the show, she revealed the reason why Kat Held and Amy Johnson weren't on good terms. That led to tension between the interior team throughout the rest of the season. Amy opened up about how Adrienne's comments pushed Kat to tell Kate her side of the story, dividing the group in the process. "I wasn't hurt by the things being said, I was able to shake that off. What bothered me was that they were being said to my chief stew, Kate, who I believed had a great working relationship with me and I thought of her as a leader," Amy wrote in an interview with Bravo in September 2014. "When the two people you work with, one of whom is your boss, are in a room and negative things are being said about you, yes, it can be hurtful. But beyond that it is really unprofessional." Courtesy Adrienne Gang/Instagram
The hookup between Rocky Dakota and Eddie Lucas rocked the boat when the bosun denied their fling at the time. While the rest of the crew started to question Rocky's story, Eddie eventually confirmed in the final episode of season 3 that it was true. Because of their secret moments, Rocky and Eddie inspired Below Deck production to add cameras to the laundry room as well. Bravo(2)
After standing too close to the edge, a line wrapped itself up around Ashton's ankle and he was dragged off the yacht. The former deckhand managed to survive because a Below Deck cameraman rushed to get the line loose and free Ashton. The moment was difficult for Ashton to watch back as season 6 started to air. "It could have been fatal, and I think that’s what makes it such a big deal. It could have easily gone the worst way possible," Ashton told The Daily Dish in December 2018. "It was a serious thing, and it was hard to go through. But I’m glad it happened, and I hope that people can learn from it and make sure that they’re never in that situation." Courtesy of Ashton Pienaar/Instagram
Caroline Bedol shocked many when she decided to quit halfway through season 6 amid claims of mistreatment. "It was a huge surprise," Kate told The Daily Dish in November 2018. "Like, not only am I gonna leave you midseason, put you in a tough place, I'm gonna make sure on my way out, I'm gonna do everything I can to give you a more difficult time when I'm gone by making the crew think you were a bad person." After giving her two day's notice, Caroline ended up leaving the boat in tears and later claimed she was bullied by Kate and Josiah Carter. The former stew wasn't invited to the reunion. Courtesy Caroline Bedol/Instagram
Season 7 of Below Deck received a lot of criticism for the way that all the men treated the women on the show. But the misogynistic behavior escalated when Ashton unleashed his anger at Kate while drunk. "I thought Ash was gonna punch her in the face. He’s punching the window and almost put a hole in the window and I’m like dude, chill out, it’s all good,” deckhand Tanner Sterback, who was in the van at the time, described the moment to Decider in December 2019. While the physical aspect of the fight was intense, for Kate it was more about the bigger picture during the season. “It became a very high school version of boys versus girls and I don’t know how to handle this because this is not something that happens on yachts. This is not adult behavior, this is not a game I know how to play nor do I want to play it,” she told Decider at the time. Courtesy Kevin Dobson/Instagram
Francesca Rubi struggled to lead Elizabeth Frankini after multiple major mistakes throughout season 8 of the reality show. After Elizabeth and deckhand James Hough slept together in a guest cabin without permission, the chief stew had enough. Captain Lee explained why he made the ultimate decision to let Elizabeth go so close to the end of the season. "We had exhausted every possibility and given her every opportunity to step up to the plate," he said during the Below Deck After Show in February 2021. "Her job came secondary, and that's not what I need. And I might've been a little late in pulling the trigger on that, because I think it affected the team overall." For the demoted third stew, getting fired was a horrible surprise that came from a lack of communication with her chief stew. "It was shocking at the time. I was really upset. I hold a lot of pride in myself and in my intentions and in my actions. I thought I was working hard and doing a good job, but it never felt good enough for her," Elizabeth said during Watch What Happens Live With Andy Cohen in February 2021. She added: "I know my flaws, I guess, having had a thing with James, how that screwed stuff up, but I was so willing to move on if she just communicated with me. I just wish there was more communication with us, better communication, because I would have fixed anything she had a problem with." Laurent Basset/Bravo(2)
During a crew night out in season 8, Heather Chase received major backlash offscreen for using the n-word while talking to Rayna Lindsey. The chief stew issued an apology following the December 2021 episode, but the deckhand hinted that "things kinda get worse" further into the charter season. "Something happens so bad that it becomes impossible to trust anyone. With time and the reunion, I hope we can unpack everything," Rayna shared during an Instagram Story Q+A at the time, noting that she didn't feel like she received support from Eddie or Captain Lee. "I battled a lot with trying not to get upset and give the 'angry black woman' narrative. I also thought she had said it again in the crew mess so I was like alright time to address this." The first officer, for his part, later responded that "in no way" would he "brush racism under the rug" after learning what happened. “As time goes by, I do have conversations with Captain Lee about it. I did recommend to Captain Lee to fire Heather," he said during a virtual YourEncore event in December 2021, according to Showbiz Cheat Sheet, adding that production didn't show the full extent of his conversations with Rayna. “I mean, I was told on numerous occasions to not talk about it and not bring it up anymore,” Eddie claimed. "It was actually a really good conversation that we were having. And it’s just gotten spun into something different." During the reunion special, which aired in February 2022, Rayna and Heather were able to walk away on good terms. Meanwhile, Rayna and Eddie raised eyebrows when the deckhand alleged that her superior tried to silence her issues while they were filming. Rayna claimed Eddie falsely accused her of saying a homophobic slur when she complained to him about Heather. Eddie, for his part, noted that he didn't recall the details of their conversation but was trying to point out to Rayna that she was also engaging in offensive behavior. Host Andy Cohen stepped in to clarify that Bravo couldn't confirm that Rayna said the word based on their footage from the season. Laurent Bassett/Bravo (3)
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