When working side by side with someone 24 hours a day for six to eight weeks straight in cramped conditions, it’s easy to catch feelings! That’s what’s happened to a number of crew members on the Below Deck franchise, who have fallen for each other while working during charter season. So, which boatmances have stood the test of time, as well as distance?
Whether it’s Below Deck, Below Deck Mediterranean or Below Deck Sailing Yacht, getting a group of young people from across the globe together who love to work hard and party harder is a recipe for hookup action. And while there have been plenty of frisky physical escapades between crew mates, some have turned into actual couples.
Current Below Deck Med bosun Malia White was involved in a love triangle with chef Adam Glick and fellow deckhand Wes Walton during season 2 when she was still a deckhand herself. She and Wes took their romance past the Sirocco’s charter season, though they later broke up.
By the time Malia returned in season 5, she was dating Tom Checketts, a British chef she met while working on another boat together. He came aboard Below Deck Med when Captain Sandy Yawn fired chef Kiko Lorran halfway through the season. But Tom’s quick temper tested his relationship with Malia, who frequently spent more time helping him in the galley than she did on deck with her team. The pair split after the season ended, when Malia later found out he cheated on her with someone from his next boat.
The gorgeous bosun found love on season 6 of Below Deck Med, but she did it offscreen. Malia fell for the boat’s handsome engineer, Jake Baker, who was not a featured cast member on the show. As of February 2022, the pair’s romance appears to be going strong, based on an Instagram photo she shared of the pair with their arms together while visiting the Florida Keys.
However, by October, it seems the couple hit a snag. Malia seemingly hinted at a breakup after scrubbing all photos of her partner off her Instagram.
“Ready for my next chapter,” she shared via her Instagram Stories on October 6 while sharing a travel photo.
One boat romance led to a Below Deck baby! Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 2 couple Dani Soares and Jean-Luc Cerza Lanaux had a passionate fling during charter season, even though the eight-year age gap between the older second stew and younger deckhand had them wanting different futures. After the charter ended, Dani Pregnancy-12344/”>found out she was Pregnant!
The native Brazilian later moved to Sydney, Australia, and planned out her life as a single mom after Jean-Luc questioned her baby’s paternity. Dani wrote in a May 5, 2021, Instagram post about her pregnancy, “This is not how I dreamed, not how I planned, but you are not unwanted. Bringing a life to this world is a blessing and you are here to show me I have a reason to keep going and a purpose in this life. You already so loved.” She gave birth to a daughter Lilly Rose on May 29, 2021.
JL, who was 24 at the time of their boatmance and admitted to never being in a serious relationship, finally revealed in a January 2022 Instagram post that a DNA test had confirmed he was the father of Dani’s baby. “I’m happy and proud to say sweet and beautiful Lilly Rose is my daughter. Dani and I have been working and communicating together to the best of our ability,” he assured fans.
Scroll down for more Below Deck romances and find out which couples are still together.