Below Deck: 10 Behind-The-Scenes Secrets Revealed By Cast And Crew

With Below Deck spin-off series, Below Deck: Adventure, just begun, fans of the original show are excited to see what the new show will add to the already entertaining reality TV hit. With the 10th season of the original series set to release soon, viewers are often curious as to what goes on behind the scenes.

As with any other reality TV show, there are a lot of behind the scene secrets only known to the cast and crew members. Here are just a few of the juicier tidbits.

Eddie’s Rendezvous Changed The Show Forever

The number one priority for any show is always going to be entertainment, and for this, the cameras have to capture everything. Although there are a ton of cameras set up throughout the yacht, there are always some areas that have blind spots. This was also the case with Below Deck until Eddie’s romantic rendezvous in season 3.

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Both Eddie and Captain Lee, while speaking to Cosmopolitan revealed that there were no cameras in the laundry room for a long time “until that season, Now, we have cameras in the laundry room.” Eddie also cheekily commented, “I can be very sneaky” until “I made a mistake.” Now, it seems like each and every corner of the yacht is covered with cameras to catch anything that goes on.

The Crew Doesn’t Always Work On Luxury Yachts

While it is very entertaining to watch all the drama unfold on Below Deck, a lot of viewers wonder what the crew does for work when the season isn’t being filmed. To a lot of people’s surprise, the crew on Below Deck don’t necessarily work on luxury yachts when the show isn’t being filmed.

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Eddie revealed to Cosmopolitan that he doesn’t have much experience working on luxury yachts and that he usually works on tug boats during the off-season. He further commented that “The ones I have worked on other than the show aren’t much different” from what is shown on the show.

Each season of Below Deck usually has less than 20 episodes, and they cumulatively add up to around 900 minutes of actual footage. That’s a huge number but it is nothing compared to the total footage that has to be edited down.

Captain Lee, while talking to Cosmopolitan, revealed that one season of the show “Ended up shooting some 45,000 hours of the film.” The job of the post-production crew must be excruciating trying to find the best moments, much like finding needles in a haystack. One of the common criticisms of Below Deck by fans is that they don’t get to see the rest of the BTS moments that don’t make the cut.

Bathroom Is The Only Privacy

After instances like Eddie’s rendezvous in season 3, even more areas on the yacht are fully equipped with Go-Pros and microphones, but there is still, thankfully, one area in the entire ship where the cast can get some privacy, and that is the bathroom.

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However, in a conversation with BravoTV, it was revealed by one of the producers that cast members have been warned that if multiple people go into the washroom at the same time, cameras and microphones can still follow them. “It could be they’re having a conversation about someone they hate” and the showrunners need to be aware of that.

The Show Is Not Scripted

While watching any reality TV show, one of the first thoughts that many viewers have is how much of what they see is scripted. But apparently, none of the conversations and activities depicted on the show are scripted.

Mark Cronin, one of the producers of the show, while speaking with InTouchWeekly, stated that “It’s very important to us that they have a real experience…” The most the crew interferes during shooting is telling someone to “talk” if they are doing something mundane silently.

Hookups Are Quite Rare

It seems like a no-brainer that when a group of attractive young people is left on a luxury yacht for long enough, romance would be quite a common occurrence. But while there are the occasional flings on the show, it is apparently pretty rare for this to happen. A lot of fans don’t know about this aspect of life on a luxurious yacht.

One Bravo employee commented to Us Weekly that, “cabins have surveillance cameras in them all the time” and it’s not like they are hidden cameras. The cast is aware that they are being filmed and recorded all the time. The employee also noted that the frequency of people hooking up is also dependent on how the captain is in regard to the rules for using guest areas when there are no guests on the yacht.

There Were Replacements On Standby During The Pandemic

Considering the fact that the cast on the show can get fired from time to time, it seems like the showrunners would have replacements always ready on standby, but that is not always the case. Mark Cronin, the producer of the show told Us Weekly that they have some cast members who didn’t make the cut in the back of their minds if they are needed, but they are not kept on standby.

But this changed with the Covid-19 travel restrictions where the showrunners had to spend “The extra money to have replacement cast members waiting in a hotel in case someone got fired.”

The Crew Means Business

Below Deck is supposed to feel like the viewers are a fly on the wall during the day-to-day activities on a luxury yacht, but it is also evident that the cast is surrounded by the camera crew and other production members. Spending weeks on a boat with people should definitely make them closer, but apparently, there are very strict rules on Below Deck when it comes to interactions between the filming crew and the cast.

Hannah Ferrier, one of the Below Deck Mediterranean cast, revealed to InTouchWeekly that “They won’t even say hello to me. They won’t.” She further said that even guests aren’t allowed to interact with the filming crew, although the rules are a bit more relaxed for them.

Space Is A Problem

Staying and working together in an enclosed space can be tough and mentally exhausting, but fitting two separate crew on a single boat further increases the problem. Shooting an entire season of Below Deck involves a huge film crew, plus the yacht crew and the guests, as well.

Hannah Ferrier told InTouchWeekly that “We’re in these tiny confined spaces and they have very big equipment so it makes it difficult.” This is one of the fun facts from Below Deck that fans don’t often think about. She further compared it to other Bravo shows, which usually take place in big mansions, restaurants, or beaches.

A Studio Is Created On The Yacht Itself

Managing all the camera and audio equipment can be incredibly tricky, especially if the crew is on a boat. But showrunners found an ingenious solution to this problem. Deckhand Colin Macy-O’Toole from Below Deck Med seasons 3 and 4 told Showbiz Cheat Sheet that the crew ripped apart the yacht gym to convert it into a studio.

She commented that “They have to rip out the gym equipment and put in like 15 flat-screen TVs.” Of course, this is done so that the showrunners can continuously monitor everything that goes on in the boat.

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