The Below Deck franchise has specific guidelines when it comes to making sure the cast doesn’t break the fourth wall.
Below Deck Sailing Yacht star Daisy Kelliher recalled the boundaries put in place on the hit Bravo series, telling The Mirror earlier this month, “We have super strict rules to not break the fourth wall. During COVID, [the camera crew] would wear masks and we wouldn’t even learn their names.”
Daisy, 38, noted that not much has changed since she joined the show in 2021.
“Now we might get a name but we really have no interaction with them. Sometimes we get to talk at the end of a season during promo,” she added. “But Below Deck wants to be fully unscripted and they want the camera crew to remain anonymous and as if they’re not there.”
Daisy continued: “They want you to forget about the cameras. And it works because the camera crew almost becomes invisible.”
Despite the regulations behind the scenes, Daisy clarified that what took place on the show was “not faked” for the cameras.
“But I will say something that is escalated — the intensity and frequency of the drama. But the idea is there and this sort of stuff does happen,” she added. “The show is supposed to represent the work hard and play hard aspect of the [job]. We do work those long hours and it’s very full-on. We do go out and socialize together after getting the big tip.”
Daisy weighed in on how the issues can be “self-produced” by the cast, saying, “When I watched the show before I did it, I thought the drama was insane — especially cast members arguing in restaurants and kicking off. But in the show, you’re never given space to have private arguments.”
She concluded: “If I was arguing with someone on a normal boat, I probably wouldn’t go to the crew dinner. But you’ve signed up for a show and you’re also living in a bubble, plus you’re tired. Production doesn’t need to interfere and the emotions are very real.”
The Below Deck franchise has found immense success on Bravo since its 2013 premiere. Since then, the franchise has expanded to Below Deck Mediterranean, Below Deck Sailing Yacht and Below Deck Down Under. (Below Deck Adventure aired one season from late 2022 to early 2023 but has not returned.)
Below Deck Sailing Yacht has made headlines over the years for everything from paternity drama between Dani Soares and Jean-Luc Cerza Lanaux to a tumultuous romance between Adam Glick and Jenna MacGillivray, and Daisy and Gary King‘s will-they-or-won’t-they romance.
“Don’t screw the crew. That rule is there for a reason,” Daisy exclusively told Us Weekly in November 2023. “I think [I also learned to] just kind of accept my emotions and not be too hard on myself and still try to keep business and pleasure separate. But I don’t think I’ll ever be an expert at that.”
Earlier this month, Bravo revealed their upcoming slate of shows with Below Deck Mediterranean and Below Deck Down Under on the roster ahead of Below Deck‘s upcoming return in June. The only current Below Deck iteration missing from the list was Below Deck Sailing Yacht.
A source later revealed to Us that “no decisions have been made” yet about Sailing Yacht’s future.
