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Bravo’s Below Deck franchise has featured some controversial chefs over the years. Below Deck has gone on to enjoy 10 seasons since its debut. The show’s success led to the development of four popular spin-off series — Below Deck Mediterranean, Below Deck Sailing Yacht, Below Deck Down Under, and Below Deck Adventure. While watching these shows, fans have met new captains, bosuns, chief stews, and, more importantly, chefs.
Undoubtedly, the Below Deck chefs play a critical role in the show as they cater to the boat’s charter guests and crew members. But unlike their counterparts, who have the option of hiding behind the kitchen walls, Below Deck chefs must be seen and heard to improve their likability within the fanbase. However, over the years, there have been some chefs who Below Deck fans disliked. Below are the top five worst Below Deck franchise chefs, according to fans.
Chef Mila Kolomeitseva (Below Deck Mediterranean)
Chef Mila Kolomeitseva made her reality TV debut on Below Deck Mediterranean season 4 and quickly earned a reputation as one of the worst chefs ever appearing on the show. Despite attending the renowned Le Cordon Bleu, Chef Mila’s cooking was a disappointment. However, her horrible personality also contributed to her poor ratings during her short stint on the show.
During the season premiere, she raised eyebrows when she served guests steak she had previously licked and then put in the microwave to keep warm. She also made the most lackluster tacos you will ever see and attempted to serve the wealthy guests a plate of nachos with toppings made from shredded pre-packaged cheese.
In the next episode, she completely fluffed her lines when baking a cake for a guest’s birthday. Various crew members tasted the cake, which was deemed inedible because it contained an overwhelming amount of baking powder. However, Mila achieved villain status when she proudly accepted being a homophobe after she asked if a crew member, Jack Stirrup, was gay. Bravo superfan Chrissy Teigen called the chef out in a June 2019 tweet. The model wrote,
“Wowwwww, I was hesitant to talk s–t about the chef’s cooking on Below Deck because I didn’t wanna be a jerk hole, but then it got to the end, and it turns out she is also a terrible person.”
Meanwhile, her fellow cast members and most of the Below Deck fans also slammed her for being a massive homophobe. And that is why she is easily the worst chef ever to appear in the franchise.
Chef Mathew Shea (Below Deck Mediterranean)
Before appearing on Below Deck Mediterranean season 6, Chef Mathew Shea was a professional chef for 14 years with an impressive resume that saw him work for some big stars such as Hugh Jackman. Despite his wealth of experience, Chef Mathew appeared way out of his depth right from his first task, giving off many red flags throughout the season.
The first red flag came ahead of the first charter when Mathew claimed his leg was hurting, so he couldn’t do his job on the series. The incident put the whole crew in a difficult position as they scrambled to find someone to fill in for him temporarily. He later admitted that he exaggerated the pain because he was scared.
Chef Mathew was involved in a notorious feud with stewardess Lexi Wilson after she walked through his pile of dirt in the galley while he was cleaning. The encounter set the tempo for a fractious relationship between the two, as they could barely work together without hurling insults at each other.
Unfortunately, Mathew’s cooking was too inconsistent to salvage his season. He also found the task of cooking for the whole crew quite overwhelming, and by the end of the charter season, he couldn’t even successfully make an omelet. He eventually quit after threatening to do so throughout the season — making him easily one of the most frustrating chefs on the show, as per fans.
Chef Ryan McKeown (Below Deck Down Under)
Chef Ryan McKeown debuted on the flag off-season of Below Deck Down Under and quickly became the show’s most problematic character cast member. Ryan’s cooking was always below par, and he constantly failed to live up to the expectations of the charter guests. by extension, he also fell short of Captain Jason Chambers’ standards.
In addition to his poor culinary skills, Ryan irked fans with his disrespectful attitude toward Captain Jason. In one particular episode, Ryan prepares an atrocious English tea that makes the guests leave the charter feeling disappointed about the spread. Captain Jason had no choice but to sack Chef Ryan, a decision that was well-received by fans.
On Reddit, one user, notanotheramber, recently started a thread where fans talked about some of the most frustrating chefs across the Below Deck franchise. Most of the fans agreed that Chef Ryan was undoubtedly one of the worst fans on the show, and they cited his poor culinary skills and bad attitude. While commenting on the thread, one Reddit user, Formal-Antelope6077, said,
“Ryan was insufferable. His attitude was awful, and his food wasn’t much better.”
Chef Leon Walker (Below Deck Original)
Chef Leon Walker was the most divisive character on Below Deck season 3 and would rank among the most controversial cast members ever appearing in the franchise. While his cooking was a lot better than the other names featured on this list, his terrible attitude earned him a spot on the list.
Leon was hired to take over from Chef Ben Robinson after he put in good shifts on Below Deck seasons 1 and 2. However, Leon quickly sparked a feud with Chief Stew Kate Chastain that threatened the harmony of St. David. When he wasn’t feuding with Kate, he was raising viewers’ eyebrows by blatantly refusing to take the culinary requests of charter guests.
Chef Leon inadvertently reached the end of his long rope when his lack of concentration caused a fire outbreak in the galley. Leon initially tried to pin the mishap on Kate, but the crew later discovered that a dirty oven caused it. Captain Lee Rosbach fired Leon but assumed he would leave after the charter. However, that was not the case, as Leon left immediately, leaving the crew struggling to make dinner for the guests.
Captain Lee later described Leon as the “single most disruptive force” he has ever had the ‘displeasure of working with.” Many of the show’s viewers also have the worst opinion about the controversial chef and feel he should have been fired earlier.
Chef Adam Glick
Chef Adam Glick first appeared on Below Deck Mediterranean in seasons 2 and 3. He then reprised his role on Below Deck Sailing Yacht, where he determined to focus on his cooking rather than pursue a boatman — which was responsible for earning him a bad reputation during his time on Below Deck Mediterranean.
On Below Deck Mediterranean, Adam was involved in a boatman with lead deckhand Dalia White, whom he met before joining the show. However, Adam’s problems on the show began when Dalia developed feelings for Bosun, Wes Walton. He eventually lost his cool when Dalia decided to pick Wes over him.
Strangely, Adam began putting ingredients in the charter guests’ food that they didn’t want, and he also got physical with Wes during one of the crew’s days off. Despite his misdemeanors, he returned for season 3 of Below Deck Med, where he redeemed himself as a more relaxed guy.
However, when he returned to the franchise on Below Deck Sailing Yacht, he reverted to his old self. Apart from being mean and condescending, Adam also lost his way as he focused much of his energy on pursuing a romance with chief stewardess Jenna MacGillivray.
Most fans were happy when he didn’t return for another season on the franchise. Below Deck, fans felt his continued appearance on the show posed a real danger to the health of the charter guests due to his complete disregard for their food allergies. Due to their terrible stint on the show, these chefs will have difficulty clearing their names with the Below Deck fans.
