From Kardashian culture to the Love Island phenomenon, it’s no secret that reality TV can influence us. The effects can be seen on our high streets, on our social media pages, and even in the rise in popularity of cosmetic procedures carried out in the UK and many other Western countries.
But what happens when the secretive world of super yachts, a playground for the world’s wealthiest one percent, is infiltrated by a hit reality television show?
A famously secretive industry, with crew often required to sign non-disclosure agreements to maintain the privacy of their high-profile guests, ‘Below Deck’ is, for many, their introduction into the world of super yachts.
Inevitably, watching attractive twenty-somethings party on yachts in the Caribbean, seemingly doing little work for big tips, could leave some wanting to experience what the show advertises first-hand.
But in an industry that favours high standards and professionalism, how has Below Deck, a show that largely promotes heavy use of alcohol and promiscuity, influenced life onboard?
Captain Jean-Maxime Berthet, a super yacht captain with over twenty years experience in the industry, says,
‘In my opinion, there is a link between covid and Below Deck, for sure Below Deck has had its consequences.
During covid we had a lack of crew everywhere, no one was available to fly, so we ended up with not the best crew available… crew [that] probably got stuck for one year or two years locked down in their house watching TV… they probably looked at Below Deck and decided that it was a great adventure to come and to have fun and to have sex with anyone onboard or to have no standards.
Crew joining the industry now think a bit like Below Deck.’
When asked how he’s seen this play out onboard, Jean-Maxime says,
‘In the past, I’ve always had some romance onboard happening between crew members, it happens, it happened in a respectful manner which means in the crew area or outside of the boat.
But nowadays, last year I had on my boat two crew members having sex in the gym in the evening with guests just above them on the main deck. Five years ago it wouldn’t have happened in my opinion.’
He continues,
‘Before they [crew] were thinking that joining a yacht was just having fun, getting some money, and visiting [places]. But now they think they will find a boat where there is no standard, and I admit that you have more and more yachts were the standard is not anymore, the same.’
With some crew having learnt bad habits from their television screens, this can make for unfortunate consequences onboard. The wealthy clientele who charters superyachts are paying, on average, anywhere from £100,000 to upwards of £1 million per week for their time above deck and as such expect a high level of etiquette and composure from the crew aboard at all times.
Jean-Maxime is not the only industry professional who believes Below Deck has taken a toll on the yachting industry, he adds,
‘Recently a [charter] broker from America called me to warn me that on a past charter, the crew were mentioning to the guests that they didn’t get enough tips from their previous charter… they [the crew] were talking freely with the new guests onboard, the broker said this is the Below Deck attitude.’
With guests typically preferring to keep conversation with crew to a minimum, let alone openly talking about tips, this certainly makes for some uncomfortable situations at sea.
U.S. reality TV show, ‘Below Deck’ focusses on the daily lives of superyacht crew, filming them access-all-areas-style as they live and work together on a multi-million-pound superyacht. Originally broadcast in 2013, the series picked up widespread popularity at the beginning of the Covid pandemic and has remained a hit ever since.
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