Not always the right fit. Over the years, the Below DeckFranchise has shocked viewers with dramatic exits that included firings and resignations.
Mathew SheaSet a record Below Deck MediterraneanHe made several departures during season 6. When he sustained a knee injury and required medical attention, the chef first left the boat.
“In the moment, it was the best thing I could have done for my mental health,” he exclusively told Us WeeklyIn July 2021. “I was in pain and having a full-blown panic attack, you know? There were cameras on my face. It was just [was] a lot. It was all a lot.”
Chief Stew Katie Flood offered a glimpse at the chaos that ensued because of Mathew’s exit — which forced the rest of the crew to cook dinner for the guests.
“Obviously I wasn’t happy. I was annoyed. I was pissed off,” she shared with UseJune 2021. “I was worried because, at the time, it was like survival mode. We have guests on board and they want dinner. We need to get through it. And then it was like, once we got through dinner, it’s like, ok, now what? Are we going to get a chef? Is he going be a chef tomorrow?” Someone else coming? Like, what the f–k is actually going on right now?”
Mathew did return to the boat but he walked away after a night out.
“They can find some f–ker to do their s–t. Good luck. You’ll have some f–king a–hole chef now,” the Bravo personality said to the chief officer as he hit multiple production cameras on his way out during a July 2021 episode of Below Deck Med.
Mathew and his castmates developed tension earlier in the episode when he shared too much at the dinner table.
“I don’t like people giving me s–t. I’ve worked too hard to get s–t for being myself. Give me crap for being myself, it’s, like, f–k you,” Mathew clapped back after being told to stop talking.
Mathew returned to his boat the next morning. Captain Sandy YawnTemporarily, they allowed him to stay while the replacement chef was released from quarantine. Mathew was able, after winning over the charter visitors, to complete the rest of the season.
Captain Sandy said that Mathew had made a decision not to leave her profession at the time. Use in September 2021, “Would I have let Mathew go? Yes. Could I have? I had no other choice. We were [in] quarantine. We used a bubble to get a cook to undergo tests. Testing takes two weeks, then you are placed in quarantine for eight days. It’s impossible.”
The captain found it easier to stay with Mathew, despite their ups and downs.
“I’d rather say hang with the devil you know than the devil you don’t know. Mathew did an excellent job. I was not there for their dinners, putting aside personalities. I heard he poked the bear a lot, and I watched it, but he did a great job in the galley,” she added. “No guests ever complained. When the guests complain, that’s when you see me in the galley. If the guests don’t complain, I’m like, ‘Great job. Keep up the good work.’”
Scroll down to see everything Below DeckStar who made quite an impression on the show when they decided to leave: