Bravo has amassed a mighty fine selection of people willing to sacrifice any hopes of inner peace or good Karma. Folks who might have an absence of morality or no f’s left to give. These fine subjects are what we like to call pot-stirrers. They will drive storylines in their direction, and it doesn’t matter how they’re portrayed. Exhibit A: Real Housewives of Orange County and Kelly Dodd.
Thanks to a network devoted to the antics of instigators, they figured why keep all the fun and action on land? Now we have Below Deck and a myriad of spinoffs to entertain viewers during a charter season. And under the veil of hospitality, the instigators will be hiding. Ready and waiting to irritate and annoy and probably become famous as a result.
Here are some memorable Below Deck stirrers of the pot.
Lauren Burchnell / Season 4 / Below Deck
2016 seems like an eternity ago, but Season 4 of Below Deck is hard to forget. Kate Chastain was Chief Stew and Captain Lee Rosbach was driving the vessel. The deck crew had numerous issues and allll of them played out during the season. Lauren Burchnell was a deckhand with a crush on Nico Scholly because we all make mistakes at some point.
Lauren had a penchant for spreading bad info and it negatively impacted the crew. And this crew already had Kelley Johnson who could barely remember to bring keys that operate the yacht’s tender. Nico was allegedly influenced by Lauren’s immature behavior and that didn’t do him any favors after receiving a promotion to Senior Deckhand. Lauren managed to stir the pot all around the boat about Nico’s bump up. But Lauren wasn’t satisfied simply diddling with her team. She fired Kate up too, which no one wants to do. Captain Lee once called her a “one-woman wrecking crew.” Lauren was checked for her gossiping, but no lessons were learned during Season 4.
Lara Flumiani / Season 5 / Below Deck Mediterranean
Lara Flumiani tried to flex and gave up after three episodes on Below Deck Mediterranean. Neither Chief Stew Hannah Ferrier nor the majority of the crew got along with her. Nothing Hannah did improved the circumstance. Captain Sandy Yawn tried to step in but was unsuccessful because Lara exuded what was known as “f— you energy,” making light of severe situations and giving Sandy the icks.
Lara was a master at muttering under her breath about how unsatisfied she was with being treated like someone who was supposed to help take care of the yacht. She never missed a moment to speak to her superiors like they were misbehaving children and refused to take accountability for her lack of discipline. As a result of her inability to handle direction and penchant for directly disobeying orders, Lara departed in the middle of the night. She came back the following morning, to alert Sandy and have her belongings collected. Many members of the crew took a big sigh of relief when Lara and her instigating headed toward the freedom of the land and whoever had to deal with her next.
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Georgia Grobler / Season 1 / Below Deck Sailing Yacht
It doesn’t get much messier than blatantly going after someone else’s man. Season 1 of Below Deck Sailing Yacht introduced us to Captain Glenn Shephard and the art of properly sailing at a heel of 90 degrees. Glenn’s crew consisted of two booed-up deckhands and a stew with a wandering eye. Georgia Grobler was a cheeky one with a mind of her own and little care for anyone else’s feelings. Paget Berry was the first mate and his longtime girlfriend Ciara Duggan was also aboard as one of his team.
Georgia very obviously developed a crush on Paget and his inability to tan. She seemingly had zero respect for Ciara’s feelings and Paget didn’t do a very stand-up job of deterring Georgia’s interests. Ciara either possessed an amazing amount of self-respect or had extensive training on not showing the competition when you sweat. To say she handled Georgia and Paget’s ridiculous flirtations well would be an understatement. Paget and Ciara wound up getting engaged, only to break up shortly thereafter. Ciara definitely dodged a bullet on that one.
Raquel “Rocky” Dakota / Season 3 / Below Deck
Rocky Dakota turned the motor yacht Eros upside down. She also turned the laundry room into a place of sin. But this isn’t about Rocky succumbing to Bosun Eddie Lucas’ tempting her into his own personal love triangle. This is about her general attitude and lack of respect. For some reason, Rocky bonded with a fellow polarizing figure, Chef Leon Walker. Leon was an absolute turd to Chief Stew Kate and Captain Lee wasn’t thrilled with his non-performance. Rocky co-signed Leon’s Kate hate and blamed Kate when Leon was axed.
She stripped to her skivvies and dove off the boat, only to be picked up by a rogue vessel that contacted Lee. Because Leon was gone, Rocky returned and prepared a meal that had the primary guest praying to his porcelain Jesus. If that weren’t enough, she had a breakdown due to the dalliances with Eddie. Then poor, sad Rocky selected certain crew members and shared her big secret. The season finale was an incredibly tense party where Eddie’s shame was displayed and Lee was disgusted with the ordeal. Eddie definitely learned not to stick his spoon in pots that stir.
Malia White / Season 5 / Below Deck Mediterranean
Ah, Season 5 of Below Deck Med is a dark one. We had high expectations on the high seas because the high-ranking members on board all happened to be women. People had visions of breaking the glass ceiling, but this season only broke our hearts. Chief Stew Hannah was never a fan favorite, but what happened to her brought even the most fierce Hannah haters to her defense.
Malia White came in as Bosun. Under the authority of Captain Sandy, the dream team turned out to be a complete dud. Basically, Malia took it upon herself to take photos of Hannah’s Rx anxiety medication. She then sent those photos to Captain Sandy under the guise of her total commitment to Maritime Law. Hannah was humiliated and fired, but Malia wasn’t done. After she took care of Chief Stew, she went after Chef Kikko Loran. She stroked Sandy’s disgust towards Kikko’s kooking so her whiny British mess of a boyfriend could come in and take his place. Malia has come a long way from this dirty season but some fans have been unable to forgive her and move on. They’re still waiting on #justiceforkikko.
TELL US- WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE BELOW DECK POT-STIRRERS? WHO WOULD YOU ADD TO THE LIST? DO YOU CONSIDER ANY BELOW DECK CAPTAINS POT-STIRRERS?
[Photo Credit: Laurent Basset/Bravo]
