Two firings on Below Deck Down Under have shaken the reality TV world. It’s like if Scandoval was more serious and hit at labor issues that have plagued reality TV since The Real World: Los Angeles. Bosun Luke Jones and second steward Laura Bileskalne were fired in the same episode after both tried to get in bed with cast mates who didn’t give their consent. The firings come as something of a reckoning for the Below Deck franchise, which has long had issues with alcohol consumption, toxic masculinity, and how crews handled unwelcome sexual advances.
What’s a normal episode of Below Deck Down Under like?
The Below Deck franchise depicts the support staff of various superyachts. They work, live, and love in tight quarters while catering to the whims of the stupidly wealthy. Below Deck Down Under season 2 follows the crew of the Northern Sun, which ports out of Cairns, Australia. Captain Jason Chambers commands the Northern Sun.
Like Vanderpump Rules before it, the Below Decks balance the crew’s work life with their partying and romantic entanglements. The episode before this situation started mainly focused on a love pentagon (involving Luke Jones, Margot Sisson, Harry Van Vliet, Laura Bileskalne, and Adam Kodra). There was also discussion of improperly washed teak fixtures and the failure to remember the guests’ dietary restrictions. Oh, and the benefits of fresh lime over store-bought juice.
Episodes six and seven of Below Deck Down Under were not typical. Episode six saw production intervene when a crew member entered the bed of another unconscious crew member. And episode seven ended with another crew member fired for making repeated unwanted advances on a coworker.
Who got fired, and why?
Bosun Luke Jones and second steward Laura Bileskalne were both fired for misconduct. After a night of drinking, Jones — who appeared to be completely naked — went into Margot Sisson’s cabin and got in her bed. Both production staff and chief steward Aesha Scott had to break down the door to force Jones out. Scott went to Captain Jason, who ordered Jones off the boat to sleep it off in a hotel. When he returned in the morning, Jones was fired. “Last night there were boundaries crossed,†he said. “There was indecency, and you went into someone else’s cabin without consent. Unfortunately, I’ve got nothing else but to terminate your employment.†Jones accepted his firing and said he was disappointed in himself.
Laura Bileskalne did not accept Jones’s firing and went on a victim-blaming campaign for the rest of her (brief) employment on the Northern Sun. She told Sisson “Aw, poor Luke. I should have just kept him happy. If he comes naked in my cabin, I’d be like, ‘Hello! Yes!’†She then said, “We all feel bad, but he feels the worst right now.†Meanwhile, Bileskalne had been on a days-long sexual harassment campaign of her own against Adam Kodra. Despite Kodra rejecting her advances multiple times, Bileskalne kept repeatedly touching him and trying to kiss him. The same night Jones went into Sisson’s cabin, Bileskalne went into Kodra’s and tried to kiss him/massage him. Once again, production was forced to intervene and get Bileskalne to leave. Captain Jason fired Bileskalne that same episode. The day the episode aired, Bileskalne apologized to Korda and Sisson in an Instagram post. On August 9, Sisson shared a long message on her Instagram regarding the situation, thanking her crew and viewers for their support.
Behind the scenes, the production crew moved fast to intervene in Bileskalne and Jones’s inappropriate behavior, according to the Los Angeles Times. During these moments, the camera crew experienced a power outage that cut off the camera feed into the control room, and they had to run from their station to the cast members’ cabins. While the team was en route, an audio supervisor wedged his foot into the door to prevent Jones from staying in Sisson’s room. In the same article, executive producer Nadine Rajabi said the decision to intervene was focused on the safety of the cast and crew. “It was a hard night; the whole thing was very, very difficult,†explained Rajabi. “I didn’t realize the response that would come of this because that was not anything that we were thinking about. It’s not anything to be congratulated on because it was just about doing the right thing. I would hope that everybody would act in that way. It was about safety.â€
What does this mean for the Below Deck universe? For Bravo as a whole?
The Northern Sun is down two crew members, and at least one of their expected replacements is not a fan favorite. João Franco, a previous cast member on Below Deck Mediterranean, was shown in the mid-season preview. Franco has made inappropriate comments towards Scott, saying she looked like a “Russian prostitute†on Below Deck Mediterranean season four. Scott also said that Franco would flirt with her a lot.
Fans and critics are ambivalent about how the Below Deck Down Under firings shook out. On the one hand, it’s good to see the ship’s command and production intervene to prevent sexual assault. On the other hand, it highlights all the times they seemingly did not — for example, when Below Deck Sailing Yacht stars Ashley Marti and Gary King had sex when it appeared he was too drunk to give consent. Marti took King to an unoccupied guest cabin to give him a massage, and King had to be informed he was having sex. “Get it out. Okay, we’re not having sex; we’re not having sex,†King told her, to which she replied, “We are; it’s already in.†Viewers saw this as an assault, but King said on WWHL he did not. King was also criticized by viewers for going after much younger stewards and subordinates.
The Below Deck franchise is hardly the only reality series to have issues of muddied consent or the role production and alcohol play in on-set assaults. Real World star Tonya Cooley sued after she claimed to have been raped while filming The Challenge while production did nothing. Bachelor in Paradise changed its rules about alcohol consumption and sex while filming after Corinne Olympios accused DeMario Jackson of sexual misconduct while filming. Production’s responsibility to the stars they’re filming is at the center of the current movement within reality television to unionize.
Wait, reality TV is unionizing?
Real Housewives of New York’s Bethenny Frankel has been outspoken about using the momentum behind the current double strike in Hollywood to unionize. “Just because you can, as a streamer or a network, play the show as much as you want, doesn’t mean you should,†she told Variety. “Meaning, yes, they’re going to get as much milk out of the cows as they could because it’s legal. We signed a contract. Does it mean we should be exploited? It means when you get a ratings bump or something happens, you should share. Networks and streamers have been exploiting people for too long.†Love Is Blind season 2’s Nick Thompson is also organizing to demand residuals. He told the Daily Mail that after appearing on the Netflix reality dating show, he is nearing homelessness. He also claims to have been denied food and water while filming and that the show provided “no mental health support before, during, or after.â€
Lawyers working with Frankel sent a “strongly worded letter†to NBCUniversal’s general counsel, Kimberley Harris, on August 3. The letter alleged “a pattern and practice of grotesque and depraved mistreatment of the reality stars and crew members on whose account its coffers swell.â€
The original version of this article contained an error involving Luke and Aesha’s surnames; it has been corrected.