Below Deck Mediterraneans Love Triangle of Doom Is Messy AF

June 2024 · 9 minute read

The Big Picture

All season long, fans have been teased about a love triangle brewing onboard motheryacht Mustique. Stews Elena Dubaich and Bri Muller have had their eyes on the same man. The deckhand in question: Joe Bradley. Elena and Bri are not only coworkers, they are also sharing a cabin. But to make matters worse, Ellie had already expressed her attachment and crush on Joe to Bri. And yet after a crew night out, Bri negated that conversation and took matters into her own hands. With Ellie believing that Bri broke the girl code, she made them have a conversation about it, hoping they could move past it, but it's not quite that simple. Especially when you're in each other's faces 24/7. Feelings were hurt and emotions are about to get in the way of a productive charter season.

Below Deck Mediterranean has been coursing the blue seas of the Mediterranean since 2016. Now in its ninth season, Below Deck Med has dropped anchor on some of Bravo's most dramatic moments in the show's history. And often, it has something to do with onboard romances. With Aesha Scott returning to serve as Chief Stew under Captain Sandy Yawn, this current season has shown a promising ride for the veterans of the ship, but the newbies are experiencing some first-season jitters. Whether it's secret hookups or a chef not up to par, Below Deck Med Season 9 is keeping things juicy. With the love triangle of doom hitting the ship like an iceberg, things are about to get more dramatic than anyone had anticipated.

Below Deck Mediterranean
TV-14Reality-TV

In a luxury charter yacht traveling across the Mediterranean, crew members face both the challenges of managing upscale guest expectations and the complexities of their own interrelationships. Each episode highlights the high-octane world of yachting where exceptional service standards meet personal drama and adventure.

Release Date May 3, 2016 Cast Sandy Yawn , Hannah Ferrier , Malia White , Mzi Dempers , João Franco , Colin Macy-O'Toole , Kyle Viljoen , Christine Drake Main Genre Reality-TV Seasons 9 Creator(s) Mark Cronin , Doug Henning , Rebecca Taylor Henning Network Bravo Franchise(s) Below Deck Showrunner Mark Cronin , Courtland Cox , Nadine Rajabi Expand

How The Love Triangle Began

Like almost any season of Below Deck, when a new crew arrives, they are more likely to scope out their potential showmance more than explore the bowels of the ship. And like almost any season of Below Deck, with the options limited, it's bound to cause some friction. For this season of Below Deck Mediterranean, it wasn't that the options for men were limited, there were only two single ladies who just clearly had the same type. When it comes to deckhand Gael Cameron, who's in a long-distance relationship, and her forbidden romance with fellow deckhand Nathan Gallager, that's a conversation for another day. With Joe Bradley essentially being the only option for Bri and Ellie, Ellie, the 2nd stew, wanted to establish her crush first, telling her cabinmate that when the time was right, she would try to pursue him. But it was that crew night out that caused some temptation to bubble to the surface. Elena didn't make her move with enough fervor, so Bri moved on in. Certainly, Joe is not innocent in this situation, but he is not eager to be put directly in the middle of this conflict.

Since the girls were in their feelings, as much as they didn't want to let this temporary tiff get in the way, it did. And there was no one there to mediate. With Chief Stew Aesha Scott temporarily being off board to get her finger checked out, the lingering effects of the chat cast a competitive spell on the two women. Elena, the 2nd Stew, feels like Bri is now undermining her, seeing she is a stripe below her. Meanwhile, Bri feels like Elena is holding a grudge over her because of the incident. Bri's not necessarily wrong! But while working, it's better to keep personal issues at bay. For Bri, her tears were seen by the wrong person. Bri, in her feelings, tells Captain Sandy about her woes, not intending to put her in the middle of the situation she has zero need to be in. But like Captain Sandy does, she's going to meddle. Even ever just so slightly. But hey, she likes to know all the drama and gossip going down below deck. Bri will eventually relay her chat to Aesha, who excitedly has returned with stitches. Bri threw her bunkmate under the bus, stating that Ellie was having a power trip. Bri doesn't get the response she wants from Aesha, so now she's going to run it back to Ellie herself to try to salvage the messy situation. Now Ellie will relay her frustration with Bri to Aesha. Aesha knows she has to stay neutral, but she's become monkey in the middle. As Aesha says in confessional, "Don't screw the crew, if you can't emotionally handle it."

This situation has caused Bri to not want to sleep in her and Ellie's cabin, opting to sleep in the crew mess and the boys' cabin. And has thus gotten the boys onboard in a situation they very much want to stay out of. Bri has now accused Ellie of belittling her as she plays the victim card. She's caused unnecessary tension to arise. Oh, and Ellie has now unwittingly pushed Bri closer to Joe in the process. There is no way that this will turn out well for anyone. What is obvious though, if there is anyone who can reduce the drama, it's Aesha. But is it her responsibility as the department head to meddle in personal problems of this manner? It's not in the job description!

The Stews Have To Clean Up Their Mess

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With Bri and Ellie's friction affecting their working relationship and ability to perform to the best of their ability, it's likely that the charter guests' experiences could easily be compromised. If these two women can barely look at one another in the face, how can they pretend that everything is peachy-keen as they are serving meals and turning down the cabins? When the season began, Aesha determined the ranking of the women based on their experience. There have been multiple situations in the past on Below Deck where a decision of this magnitude affects the working conditions. Up until this point, Ellie had been mentoring Bri. Now, Ellie is holding that over her head while Bri is using it to question Ellie's character. None of this would have happened if there hadn't been a boy involved.

Meanwhile, Joe knows this can truly affect the working environment of the ship and might pull himself out of contention for anyone to pursue him. For Joe to at least be acutely aware of how bad this love triangle can be is at least a positive. Often, the middleman might use the situation to garner the outcome they want. But Joe clearly cares more about his career and job stability to allow a silly shipmance to ruin it all. It's no secret that what happens below deck on motoryachts is gossip that spreads like wildfire. With so much of the crew now being involved, it's truly not a good situation. Like mature adults, it's up to the ladies to clean up their own mess, after they clean up after the guests.

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Crew Romances Rarely Turn Out Well on 'Below Deck'

Below Deck has had a history of love triangles, especially on Below Deck Sailing Yacht with Gary King and whatever woman would pay attention to him in the moment. During his first two seasons on the program, Gary had pinned the women against one another as they pursued him. First, it was stew Alli Dore and deckhand Sydney Zaruba. Then it was Gabriela Barragan and Ashley Marti. Then, in a shock to all viewers, the fourth season followed the love triangle between the three best friends, Gary, Colin Macrae, and Daisy Kelliher. And this one caused the ultimate downfall of one of Below Deck's most beloved friends. During Season 10 of the flagship series, deckhand Ben Willoughby was smitten with deckhand/stew Camille Lamb. But when she was fired, he decided to pursue Leigh-Ann Smith, while still speaking with Camille. Below Deck Mediterranean Season 3 watched as João Franco used Kasey Cohen until he found he liked Brooke Laughton a little bit more. When Brooke forced him to pick, he chose her, but then would admit he still had feelings for Kasey. For

Below Deck Down Under Season 2, Culver Bradbury fell for Jaimee Neale. He was quite taken by her. But when the dreamboat Luka Brunton arrived, their connection was almost all but destroyed. Of course, Luka would also find himself embroiled in a love triangle when he moved over to Below Deck Mediterranean for Season 8. Luka had a thing with Natalya Scudder. She left the boat, and Luka still needed companionship. He looked toward Jessika Asai. Oh, he was still texting Natalya, and even invited her to join the crew on a night out. Needless to say, love triangles are a mess to begin with, but when it's involving people you live and work with, it's never going to turn out well.

Feelings and emotions can upset the entire boat dynamic. If history repeats itself, the drama between Bri and Elena is not going to be beneficial for anyone. Perhaps when the charter is over and there is downtime, they can find some sort of resolution. Otherwise, someone might need to be let go. Even though she shouldn't have to get involved, it's time for Aesha to be a hero. Aesha needs to step in and resolve this situation before someone is tossed overboard!

Below Deck Mediterranean airs new episodes every Monday at 9:00pm on Bravo. All episodes are available to stream the next day on Peacock.

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