Below Deck Down Under Season 3 just said “bon voyage” to two of its deck team members. After last week’s cliffhanger—deck hand Johnny Arvanitis yells and punches a cabinet in his shared cabin with bosun Wihan Du Toit after finding his crush Alesia Harris mistakenly in bed with Du Toit—fans knew there would be repercussions. Episode 11 of Season 3, entitled “The Shots You Don’t Take,” begins with Captain Jason Chambers springing into action after being awakened by Arvanitis’antics. He quickly sends the inebriated Arvanitis to a nearby hotel while the rest of the crew stays in their cabins. “I don’t know what’s going on. I’m alarmed at this type of behavior,” reveals Chambers in his confessional. “You can’t have it on the boat. This is not the Johnny I know.”
The next morning, Chambers sits down with chief stew Lara Rigby for a debrief. “I heard from Alesia that she made a mistake and got into bed with Wihan, but she’s obviously embarrassed and upset,” explains Rigby. After listening, Chambers instructs Rigby to go get Harris. A visibly shaken Harris arrives and explains: “So, I got into bed, and literally as soon as I did , Johnny walked through the door and I said, ‘oh, I thought that was you.’” Harris goes on: “And I was like, ‘I’m just going to go to my room,’ and then I heard like, banging and stuff.”
Chambers tells Harris what he saw that night. “I went in there, and there was a bit of aggression there. He’d be punching walls,” says Chambers. “I was just going to make a safe environment at this point, okay?” As Harris nods, Chambers assures her that he’s “always here” and that Harris can always “knock on my office door” if she needs to talk. With that, the two women exit and Chambers then goes to deck hand Harry van Vliet and chef Tzarina Mace-Ralph to hear their version of the night’s events and their issues with du Toit’s behavior.
In the gym, du Toit talks to his crush/ deck stew Adair Werly. “I don’t know what’s going on,” says du Toit. “I’m waking up with a girl in my bed, Alesia. I thought she wanted to talk to someone else, and then Johnny walked in and it was just, like, chaos.” Back at the dock, Arvanitis returns to the Katina to speak with Chambers.
“I definitely lost my composure last night,” begins Arvanitis, but Chambers stops him. “Look, you have worked so well, but punching walls and having that aggression, I can’t tolerate it. For the safety of the crew and us going forward…I have to let you go.” To his credit, Arvanitis takes the news well and even agrees with Chambers’ decision. “This [anger] doesn’t really exist inside me anymore and to show this again after so many years, it’s something I really hate,” explains Arvanitis. “I don’t really belong here.” The two men end Arvanitis’ employment on good terms, and Chambers escorts him down to the cabins so he can pack and share a tearfully goodbye with Harris.
But Chambers’ work is not done! He quickly asks du Toit to meet him on the bridge and tells him that he had to let Arvanitis go. “I also had some very telling conversations about you,” says Chambers. “Last night, you were screaming at Harry,” begins Chambers. “Captain, I was not screaming at Harry. I’ve never disrespected anyone,” lies du Toit.
Unmoved, Chambers continues. “I’ve given you the responsibility as head of department, to run your team. As the charter has gone on and the backchatter is coming up, it seems that you’re not cohesive with the interior. I’ve tried to emphasize that negativity won’t be tolerated.” du Toit tries to protest, but Chambers shuts him down. “At the end of the day, I feel you’re not taking accountability for all the things that have been happening. I’m going to make a change.”
A stunned du Toit can only listen. “You’re the common denominator, creating the divide within the team. It’s like an infection, and I need to cut the infection out. So, I’m going to let you go,” finishes Chambers. Knowing it is futile to protest, du Toit shakes Chambers’ hand and walks out. In his confessional, du Toit is resigned to his fate: “I’ve been trying my absolute hardest. Didn’t appreciate it. So be it.”
du Toit heads to Werley’s cabin to tell her the news. While they are emotional as they hug goodbye, Werley isn’t sad to see him go. In her confessional, she explains: “I think Wihan is trying to convince himself as well as me that he’s not the problem. He’s gotten himself in a love triangle situation with Tzarina and Marina. He’s ended up in this situation with Alesia, whatever the hell that is,” says Werley. “He’s pissed off Johnny, his best friend. He’s bickering, always fighting with Harry. He’s always fighting with Lara. I might miss Wihan later down the road, but right now, I think it’s best that he goes.”
By making these personnel changes swiftly and decisively, Chambers once again demonstrates what a competent and conscientious captain he is. In a Below Deck miracle, Chambers is quickly able to get two yachties to replace Arvanitis and du Toit: experienced bosun Nate Salmon and green deck hand Nicolas Cattelan. While Salmon quickly takes control of the interior team—even making a schedule within his first few hours of being on board—Cattelan makes the mistake of taking a shot of tequila with a charter guest. There’s truly never a dull moment on Below Deck Down Under!
New episodes of Below Deck Down Under air Monday nights at 8/7c on Bravo
