Reality TV shows often have a tricky relationship with the real world, for many reasons. But the recent scandal on Below Deck Down Under has so caused many of us to unite in our real-life experiences of sexual harassment and violation of our consent.
The controversy on Below Deck Down Under saw a naked bosun Luke Jones climb into colleague Margot Sisson’s bed when she’d had too much to drink to ever consent to this - all whilst the boat was in darkness as the crew were dealing with a power cut.
It’s chilling to watch – after Luke got into the vulnerable, and very drunk, Margot’s bed, where she was sleeping alone, producers stepped in and told Luke to leave her alone.
'Can you f**k off for a second?' he replied to the cameramen, and one producer responded: 'We can't do that, she said no, she said no’.
Aesha Scott, another member of the crew, then informed Margot of what happened and asked her if she consented to him being in bed with her.
‘No I was asleep,’ Margot said. ‘I did not invite that at all.’
The following conversations around what happened were heartbreaking to watch, with Margot questioning herself and feeling 'stupid' her experiences because she had been drinking.
'I woke up feeling weird, and I knew that whatever, like, happened wasn’t OK,' she said. 'I was, like, "Am I gonna wake up and he’s still here and I just have to act cool?" But I’m glad that’s not the case because that would be reality hard for me. I just feel stupid.'
'Don’t ever feel stupid. He should feel stupid, chef Tzarina reassured her, with Margot replying 'I mean yeah. But … I was so drunk.'
'Women should be able to be able to be red-hot drunk if they want to be,” Tzarina insisted, summing up the problem perfectly. 'We should be able to stand naked in a room and not have anyone do anything to us. You know, you were allowed to be drunk, you were allowed to be. It’s the other person’s problem.'
Later in a confessional, Margot admitted feeling disappointed in herself, clearly reflecting how so many of us have felt after being taken advantage of while drunk – that it was out fault, not the person who violated us. 'I feel like disappointed in myself, I feel embarrassed, sad. I’m shocked and I’m processing it, but I’m honestly just, I just feel so loved. It’s a lot of different emotions at once.'
Many have taken to Twitter in reaction to these shocking scenes, as well as to voice how what happened to Margot triggered memories of their own experiences of sexual assault.
Another posted: ‘It was every woman's nightmare but was handled brilliantly by the captain & even the aftermath with another crew member was also confounding. It triggered a memory from 30 years ago for me’.
The events were shocking to watch, but also chillingly familiar. It’s undeniable that the majority of women have felt vulnerable or targeted when intoxicated, which triggered the female audience. The safety and security that Luke must have felt in acting the way he did – assuming that his actions wouldn’t have consequences, even if they were recorded and had multiple producers watching – proves how little regard some hold for other people’s safety and boundaries.
Captain Jason removed Luke from the boat on hearing what had happened, and fired him the next morning before delivering a speech to the remaining crew.
‘We had an incident last night and I want to stress that this is a place where we respect each other. Our cabin is our safety zone,’ he said. ‘That door is our boundary… That door is not to be opened unless it is consensual. To walk into someone else’s room without consent [while] indecent is my limit.’
Author and journalist Elizabeth Day, a self-confessed fan of the show, took to her Instagram Stories to praise how the situation was handled. She wrote that the episodes spanning the scandal ‘displayed such a rare degree of emotional courage and really conveyed the importance of boundaries, safety, consent and respect in all relationships.
‘I’m very impressed by how such sensitive topics were handled’.
Luke has since posted to Instagram regarding his departure from the show: 'It doesn’t matter what they think about you because you don’t care. Everything we hear is an Opinion, Not a Fact. Everything we see is a Perspective. Not the Truth. Take Ownership and move forward'.
His girlfriend Diana Maldonado also replied to Instagram DMs regarding his behaviour saying it was 'just acting'.
'It's a TV show it's not real life,' she added.
We were also exposed to the issues of internalised misogyny and lack of consent. Stewardess Laura told Margot that Luke’s firing ‘wasn’t fair’ and that he was ‘drunk’ and ‘joking’ and implying that Margot may be at fault.
Captain Jason subsequently fired Laura as well as Luke, due to her failure to respect the boundaries he outlined (as well as her overly flirty behaviour towards deckhand Adam - which was also branded inappropriate by the rest of the crew). While this reaction aligned with the way a workplace should react to such behaviour, it’s incredibly disturbing to watch, and see another feel comfortable defending that kind of behaviour.
In a phone call to her family as the reality of what had happened sunk in, Margot questioned whether it could have been her fault for being 'too flirty'.
Margot has since spoken out on her Instagram Stories, thanking the crew for their support and assuring her that she didn’t deserve what happened to her.
‘Had I woken up to a boat full of people who had the same feelings as Laura, I would have continued to think it was my fault, that I deserved it, and what happened was okay’
She continued: ‘It breaks my heart to know that this has happened to so many of you reading this. Your emotions are valid, nobody is allowed to blame you, and you can't blame yourself’
This scandal undoubtedly highlights the enduring problem we have with boundaries, particularly in the workplace, and the ways in which it has been normalised. However, if the way it has been dealt with on a reality TV show reflects what we might see in real life, maybe the news isn’t all bad and we can expect to see real change.
What did Captain Jason Chambers say in his Instagram video about the incident?
On Thursday 11 August, Captain Jason Chambers posted an Instagram video reflecting on the incident and the reaction it's caused. He began by referencing those who have reached out to him about their own experiences of sexual harassment.
‘I’ve had a flood of messages over the last 24 hours from people in similar situations, some not so lucky as to the outcome – so my heart goes out to them.’
He went on to thank production for ‘breaking the fourth wall and stepping in’, and ‘reforming and allowing Aesha to come to me in an authentic manner and us dealing with it as captain and crew.'
Referring to the incident between Adam and Laura, he said: ‘I don’t know what goes on when crew go out, I’m not told,’ he admitted. ‘If it’s inadequate behaviour, you’ve seen that production would actually inform me, but unless a crew member complains of anything, like Adam, I wouldn’t know.'
He continued: ‘As soon as Aesha brought [the incident with Margot and Luke] to my attention, I addressed it straightaway,’ he reassured fans, adding that the events were ‘real’, happening in ‘real-time’.
Captain Chambers also addressed the time perspective on these events, seeing as they occurred ‘over a year ago’. ‘I’ll stress the people involved are all hopefully on a better journey to better themselves,’ he added.
He also asked for ‘less hate’ and ‘more love’, adding that we should ‘send it home’ and know that this kind of behaviour is ‘not acceptable’.