There are two things that can be said about the average yachtie. They get it. And they have each other’s backs. Someone like Satan Lexi Wilson would not be included in this generalization, but take a quick reminder that statistics follow a bell curve and Lexi would be an outlier for sure.
The average yachtie really does understand what a tough industry it is to work in. Surviving employment in this challenging industry seems to create a bond between them. They are a tight knit group both offshore and on. Below Deck alums are often seen partying together in seafront hubs like Fort Lauderdale, Florida. So, word spreads when one of them encounter a difficulty, and friends will voice support and their opinions. Most recently, there’s the juicy breakup of Below Deck Mediterranean Bosun Malia White and Chef Tom Checketts.
Bobby Giancola, deck hand from Below Deck Mediterranean, is living land life as a yacht broker. He may not be working in the industry anymore, but can attest to its challenges. Us Weekly asked his opinion on the cheating scandal.
Bobby said, “apparently he cheated on her. Nobody really knows. Obviously, I never got his side. But we would all hang out all the time and that’s just what happens. In the yachting world, which is kind of one of the reasons I wanted to get out of, you just can’t have a relationship unless you’re on the same boat. Even then can be hard, because then you’re instantly living with your loved one and working together in small quarters right off the bat.
“It’s best to just stay single,” Bobby concluded. Well, it looks like Malia is following that advice this season on Below Deck Mediterranean. Tom also slid into her DM’s as cameras were rolling to try and win her over. “He’s very sorry,” Malia said at the time, “he’s apologetic. He wants to get back with me, but wow, not for me.” Malia clearly is no pushover, and whatever she came to know “through a friend” about Tom’s indiscretion made “all hell broke loose” in its aftermath.
So it’s completely understandable why she is cynical about boat romances. But if a yachtie does end up hooking up with a crew member, it probably goes something like this, “everybody gets lonely and eventually somebody ends up attracted to somebody else and their inhibitions get low,” Bobby explained, “probably [from] drinking or partying. Then somebody makes a mistake.”
RELATED: Below Deck Mediterranean Bosun Malia White Shares How She Found Out Tom Checketts Cheated And Says He Wants To Get Back Together With Her
Colin Macy O’Toole, the filling for a charming Anastasia Surmava/Aesha Scott sandwich, works on a ferry route on Long Island, New York. He recommends the schedule as more stable and “drama free.” Colin said, “yachting, like Bobby said, you’re on top of each other 24/7, essentially. If you are single there’s probably going to be a little more hookup situations.”
At the time of their break-up in September 2020, Malia made this statement, “my personal life seems to be quite the topic at the moment. I am not on Twitter. I don’t do a lot of Instagram Lives, so I thought I would send out a message in my own words. Yes, Tom and I have split. The details surrounding all of it I am trying to keep a little private just out of respect to him and I. But yes, I am single.”
As further details of the breakup emerged, Malia added, “yeah, we were, you know, working on different boats. It was in the pandemic [that] had just happened. So, it was impossible for us to see each other. It was right when the show is coming out, it’s obviously a lot going on in our lives. And, yeah, he found someone else on his boats, and I didn’t know for a couple of months.”
RELATED: Below Deck Mediterranean Star Captain Sandy Yawn Is Still In Touch With Tom Checketts After Split From Malia White; Says It Was Sad To See Malia With Heartbreak
If the yachting industry is to blame for putting an immense strain on a happy young couple, adding Bravo cameras to the mix is probably worse. Tom’s galley meltdowns in Season 5 couldn’t have been easy to deal with. Malia expressed regret about putting her relationship on the show, “I think, in hindsight, I probably would not have loved for him to come on the show. I was never really dying to work with him on the show. I kind of wished we would’ve kept those two things separate. I think that would have helped our relationship a lot.”
As for Below Deck Mediterranean Season 6, if there will be a crew hookup, it seems Malia will not be a participant. But the season is young.
RELATED: Below Deck Mediterranean Star Malia White Addresses Rumors That Tom Checketts Cheated On Her
TELL US- WHAT DO YOU THINK OF BOBBY’S COMMENTS? IS THE YACHTING INDUSTRY TO BLAME? COULD MALIA AND TOM HAVE DONE ANYTHING DIFFERENTLY?
[Photo Credit: Virginia Sherwood/Bravo]