‘Below Deck’ Alum Spills BTS Truth About How The Show Is Made

Former “Below Deck” star Adrienne Gang is pulling back the curtain on how the Bravo reality series is made. The original chief stewardess says the demanding work shown during her season was real and insists cast members were not given scripts. However, she believes certain moments filmed after her departure may have been encouraged by producers. One scene involving Kate Chastain particularly stood out to Gang because it did not appear “authentic or organic” to her.

During an interview with online bingo games provider Heart Bingo, Gang was asked whether any moments from later seasons appeared to be influenced by production. “When Kate assigned fonts to people based on their personalities,” Gang answered. “I don’t know. It just seemed like a put-on. It didn’t seem authentic or organic in any way to me.”

The memorable scene appeared during Season 2, Episode 10, with Chastain explaining which font she believed best represented each crew member’s personality. Bravo has preserved the moment as “Kate’s Font Personality Guide” on its website.

Gang did not claim to have direct knowledge of how that particular scene was created. Instead, she described it as one of the moments she personally suspected had been encouraged by production.

The Former Chief Stewardess Says The Show Was Not Scripted

Gang revealed that the question she hears most frequently from “Below Deck” fans is whether the show is scripted. According to the former reality star, cast members were not hired as actors or given lines to perform.

“I think there are some production things I’ve seen throughout the years, especially right after my season, where I think things were definitely production-encouraged because they seemed gimmicky to me,” she explained. “But none of us are hired as actors. Nobody told us what to say.”

Gang said production would occasionally ask the crew to repeat something, but she insisted those requests were made when an outside noise disrupted the original audio.

“There were a couple of times where a plane would go overhead and mess with the audio on our microphones, and production would tell the camera operator, “Make them say that again exactly the way they just did,” because they’d lost the audio.”

Adrienne Gang Insists The Workload Was Real

Although Gang believes the production process has changed, she emphasized that the crew members on her season were genuinely responsible for operating the yacht. “For us, it was totally real. We were really doing the job,” she said. “The hours are long no matter what part of the job you’re doing. That doesn’t change because there’s not a secondary crew on standby to do all your work for you.”

Gang explained that the realities of maintaining the vessel eventually forced production to make some practical adjustments, particularly when it came to laundry. “At one point, they realized how challenging it was to keep up, especially with laundry,” she recalled. “We started sending some laundry out and getting sheets pressed because it wasn’t interesting content and it needed to be done.”

She claimed the modern version of the show now has additional assistance behind the scenes. “Now the show has a fixer to help with all the extras,” Gang said. “So if you see the chief stew calling to order something or setting up a band to come on board, all that stuff is arranged ahead of time, and the conversations that happen on the phone are for the cameras.”

Gang added, “Season one, we were really doing the job. Now, they’ve made it a lot easier.”

She Addressed Her Relationship With The Franchise

Gang’s time on “Below Deck” came with conflict and criticism, but she says she is no longer interested in revisiting old feuds. “Every now and again it’ll come across that somebody has said something, but I don’t really care,” she shared. “The people who know what I did to get that going in the first place have acknowledged it, and that’s meaningful to me. I have more interesting things going on in my life.”

She admitted that the public judgment once affected her because viewers were forming opinions based on what they saw on television. “It used to bother me a lot because I think it’s really hard not to when you’re being judged on what people think is your personality,” Gang said. “But if I haven’t worked with you and you don’t actually know me, then what you say doesn’t matter to me.”

Adrienne Gang Reflects On Her Controversial Charter Guest

Gang also revisited the appearance of a previous charter guest who knew her before joining the show. “The guest was a previous charter guest of mine. That’s how I met him,” she explained. “He was also part of the production with the financing of that whole project.”

Gang said she found the way the situation was presented particularly interesting because the guest later became friendly with Captain Lee Rosbach while she received much of the criticism. “The way they made the whole thing look was very interesting because at the end of everything, he ended up becoming really good buddies with Captain Lee, and I was the one who got all the flak for it,” she said.

She added, “I wouldn’t say we were great friends. I didn’t stay in contact with him afterwards for a multitude of reasons. As it turns out, he didn’t turn out to be a terribly nice guy anyway.”

Despite the criticism she faced, Gang remains grateful that she helped launch what eventually became a successful reality television franchise. “At the end of the day, I’m grateful I had a hand in something that went on to become what it is, with Emmy nominations and all,” she said. “I’m proud that I tried to represent the yachting industry professionally rather than play into reality TV culture.”

“Below Deck” received its first Emmy nominations years after Gang’s original season, according to Vanity Fair. The franchise has also expanded through multiple spinoffs. “We were the guinea pigs,” Gang reflected. “It was the Wild West, and we had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. But I’m still in the industry, and I know I did my part. I’m grateful for that, and I’m happy to leave it there.”