Luka Brunton started Below Deck Mediterranean Season 8 on a high note. After being brought on board as a deckhand, Luka stepped up to the role of Bosun after Ruan Irving had issues with his yachting papers. Captain Sandy Yawn was impressed by Luka’s great attitude and his amazing work ethic at the start of the season. This is why all the chaos Luka Brunton caused came as a surprise.
Unfortunately, Luka quickly began to get caught up in drama on the ship. Tensions with ladies onboard, as well as his deck team, caused him to get distracted. As a result, Luka became unorganized and chaotic, particularly toward the latter half of the season.
Luka Started Off On the Wrong Foot With Natalya
Luka’s first boatmance of the season was with 3rd Stew Natalya Scudder, which got pretty complicated. Natalya came into Season 8 in an open relationship, which she complained about constantly. Luka quickly caught her eye, and the two began a casual fling. Unfortunately, their time onboard together was short, as Natalya decided to leave the season early for personal reasons.
While Natalya didn’t do anything wrong, as she was in an open relationship, Luka was somewhat fake toward her. Luka pretended to be interested in her to her face, but did not hesitate to shade her once he was behind closed doors. Luka claimed he was glad Natalya left because she was too much drama, even though he had not been involved in it at all. This looked bad on Luka’s part, as he was drawing conclusions from the opinions of other crew members.
Luka Did Jessika Dirty
After Natalya’s departure, Luka did not waste anytime moving onto now 3rd Stew Jessika Asai. The relationship began as a casual fling, with the two spending all their time together on crew nights out. It did not take long for Jessika to develop real feelings for Luka, although he insisted during confessionals that he was only looking for some fun. However, Luka failed to communicate this to Jessika, which landed him in trouble.
Luka made things even worse by asking Jessika what she would be doing after the season was over. The two agreed to go to Cannes, France together, which of course got Jessika’s hopes up. Dating is as complicated as ever, but I’m pretty sure most people wouldn’t plan a romantic excursion with someone they aren’t serious about.
The real gut punch came when Luka was texting Katie Flood, who had previously worked with Captain Sandy. Captain Sandy quickly assumed that Luka had a crush on Katie and did not hesitate to share her opinion with the crew. Jessika, of course, was extremely taken aback by this.
Due to being hurt, Jessika went to all lengths to avoid Luka onboard. Luka, on the other hand, seemingly blamed Jessika and stated that she shouldn’t be upset since they weren’t in a relationship. This was pretty insensitive, considering that Luka led Jessika on…a lot. Oh, and the real kicker? Luka had been exchanging flirty text messages with Natalya the entire time. Yikes!
Luka Didn’t Do a Great Job Leading the Deck Team
While Luka was not the worst Bosun, there were certainly many things he could have done better. Luka’s biggest struggle this season was scheduling, which ended up affecting the entire crew. Luka made a big mistake by having all three deckhands take a break at once, and decided to leave the dock himself. As a result, there were no deckhands around to help the interior crew with service, which Captain Sandy was not happy about.
Luka also constantly let his team down by failing to allot them breaks. While Max Salvador was annoying with his constant nagging about breaks, we can’t really blame him. Being a deckhand is no easy task, so it is crucial that the Bosun makes sure everyone gets proper time to rest.
I’m no yachting expert, but from everything I saw this season I would say Lara Du Preez should have been the Bosun. Lara had an excellent work ethic all season, and even put her best foot forward when she was sick. While Luka did not do a terrible job during his first season as Bosun, he did not do a stellar one either.
TELL US – WHAT DID YOU THINK OF LUKA THIS SEASON? DO YOU THINK LUKA DID JESSIKA WRONG?
