The Historic Below Deck Med Matchmaker Charter Ends With a Shocking Twist
Captain Sandy Yawn, Aesha Scott, and more unpacked the latest Below Deck Med charter’s unexpected ending.
Though Aesha Scott had her popcorn ready, Below Deck Mediterranean’s historic matchmaker charter didn’t exactly have the cinematic ending that she was hoping for.
“This charter, we’ve got a bachelor, a matchmaker, and a handful of bachelorettes,” Aesha recapped during Season 10, Episode 8. “I love romance, so getting to watch people finding love before my eyes, how could I be anything but happy? I’m just watching this charter like it’s a show.”
Beginning in the previous episode, primary guest Joe — with an assist from his matchmaker, Amy — had invited six single women to join him aboard Bravado in the hopes of finding love. By the middle of Below Deck Med’s supersized Nov. 17 episode, Joe had narrowed down his potential matches to two ladies: Alicia and Ashleigh.
The problem? By the time the charter’s final night arrived, Joe wasn’t ready to cut either of them loose. When he explained to Alicia and Ashleigh that he wanted to continue to “get to know” them both on dry land, neither woman was receptive to the idea.
After Joe excused himself to go to bed, the ladies both agreed to “dump” him. The next morning, Ashleigh left without saying goodbye, but in the interim, Alicia apparently had a change of heart and eventually accepted Joe’s offer to continue pursuing a potential romance off the boat.
The two, along with Amy, ultimately departed the megayacht with minimal fanfare.
Captain Sandy Yawn and Aesha Scott react to the matchmaking charter’s ending
“Was that it?” Aesha asked, noticing that Joe and Alicia had at least linked arms as they walked away.
“I just wanted this charter to end with this big, grand moment: Joe picks his girl; they kiss; they run off the boat together, happily ever after. And now it all just feels deflated and weird,” the chief stew added in a confessional. “Is that love? Is that what it’s supposed to look like? That awkward hobble down the marina?”
Captain Sandy Yawn, for her part, pointed out in an exclusive interview with The Daily Dish that this was the first time in her entire career as a captain that she’d experienced a matchmaking charter, which she ultimately deemed a “brilliant idea.”
“How romantic, right?” she remarked. “You want them to find love. You’re, like, looking at everyone, watching the dynamics. The crew are like all talking, going, ‘Who do you think is gonna hook up? Do you think they’re gonna walk off? Are they gonna be angry? Are they gonna hate each other?’
As Captain Sandy concluded, “To me, that was very entertaining, especially for us as crew. You pick your favorite one, right? You go, ‘Oh, I hope he ends up with her.'”
How the Below Deck Med crew felt about the matchmaking cruise
Indeed, Captain Sandy’s crew weighed in with their unfiltered thoughts on the matchmaking process throughout Episode 8.
Chef Josh Bingham, for one, joked with Kizzi Kitchener that it would be “amazing” if they could “get rid of the guests as the charter goes on” more regularly.
“I want my food to be the star of the show, but I’m happy, for this charter, for it to take a backseat, because what’s more delicious than taking a bite out of love?” he added in a confessional. “As a hopeless romantic myself, I’m going to aid and create a romantic atmosphere with the menu. I’ve gotta brush up on my aphrodisiacs.”
After new stew Cathy Skinner spotted what she believed to be makeup on “naughty” Joe’s pillowcase, she declared to Kizzi and Nathan Gallagher that she’d bet her “whole salary” that he was going to choose Alicia. (Little did Cathy know, Ashleigh was within earshot when she made her prediction.)
As Joe’s prospects seemed to dissipate on the final night, Kizzi, meanwhile, didn’t hold back her criticism.
“He’s a f–king idiot,” she opined to a producer. “You’re punching above your weight with both of them. Just pick one! … He’s really shot himself in the foot here, I think.”
Since that ship has officially sailed now, get a sneak peek at how the Below Deck Med cast’s own love lives are going to heat up the remainder of Season 10.
