Before heading out on charter, Below Deck Mediterranean bosun Malia White opened up about her split from Jake Baker and teased season 3 of her Total Ship Show podcast.
After two years of dating, White and Baker split and she spoke exclusively with Showbiz Cheat Sheet about the breakup and why dating is complicated as a yachtie.
“So obviously I’m single,” White said. “Jake and I met on the same boat. Tom [Checketts] and I met on the same boat.”
White said it’s easy to fall into a pattern with people on the same boat. But dating on the same boat, “Skips the whole, like, chivalry side of things,” she said. “Where you get to set a standard because you already live together.”
Below Deck Med’s Malia White says she’s going to ‘choose wisely’ next time
As seen on Below Deck, many yachtie hookups go from zero to 100 in a matter of days, which is often disastrous.
“So, you’re skipping that whole first stage, which can have pros and cons,” White said. “In the cons section for a long-term relationship is it doesn’t set your boundaries or your standards right away because there are none. You’re living in a cabin right next door where you’re sharing a space and there is no like … you can walk me to my door, but that’s my boundary. There’s no setting that.”
“That’s the thing though in yachting, like hooking up and not serious relationships is kind of a thing. It’s very casual, you know?” she said.
“I’m not going to say I’ll never date a yachtie again, but I’m definitely going to choose wisely,” White said.
Katie Flood and Malia White from ‘Below Deck’ describe Jake as a ‘good guy’
So what happened between Baker and White? Close friend and former Below Deck Med chief stew Katie Flood explained, “I just think it was one of those things it wasn’t meant to be in the end,” Flood told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “It’s like any relationship. They tried and they were an amazing couple. Jake’s a good guy and it’s just one of those things. It just didn’t work out. That’s all it came down to.”
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“Yeah, he’s a good guy. It wasn’t going to work out, and we’re no longer on the same boat,” White agreed. “I think I also realized that I went from such a really intense relationship with Tom, like straight into a relationship with Jake. And I never had time to kind of take a break.”
White added that after the breakup with Checketts, “You crave intimacy and then you’re heartbroken. Where actually I should just mend the pieces.”
Serious relationships are hard to sustain in yachting, Katie explains
Flood said the yachtie lifestyle isn’t conducive to long-term relationships. “I also think it’s that we’re so used to this on-the-go lifestyle,” she said. “So when you do meet someone and maybe they’re not in yachting, you’re like, I have a free week. I’m going to fly and go hang out with you for a whole week. And then you realize that people not in the industry aren’t used to that.”
Normal dating is a few dates here and there until you build a relationship. “Whereas yachting is all or nothing,” Flood said. “And then it’s like you end up in these full-blown relationships without really knowing someone because you don’t really have a choice to take the time to casually get to know someone properly is what I guess people do in the real world.”
Malia White teases ‘Total Ship Show’ Season 3
White is focusing more on her career, which includes recording her third season of the Total Ship Show podcast. White said listeners can expect more interviews with fascinating industry professionals.
“So far one of my favorites lined up is we have an interview with someone from the US Coast Guard,” she teased. “We are also interviewing a qualified captain. So still heavy industry professionals and we just want to keep bringing on pretty exciting guests from within the industry and things that I’m truly passionate about.”
Malia White’s Total Ship Show Season 3 premieres on Monday, Feb. 20.
