‘Below Deck’: Ashton Pienaar Insists He Isn’t the Only One Responsible for the Drama This Season – Showbiz Cheat Sheet

Ashton Pienaar from Below Deck asserts that the darkness this season is due to the personality mix on the boat and not that hes simply a misogynist. The bosun spoke out about being accused of turning the deck team against deckhand Rhylee Gerber, plus the altercations he and Brian de Saint Pern had with chief stew Kate Chastain.

Pienaar returned this season to lead the deck team. While he began the season with a smile, he descended into troubled waters after violently lashing out at Chastain and constantly complaining about Gerber to his subordinates. He tried to have Gerber fired during a recent episode and seemed frustrated when Captain Lee Rosbach instead insisted Pienaar learn to get along with Gerber.

Hes received a significant amount of social media hate, with some fan groups calling for him to be fired. Crew members, including Rosbach, have had harsh words for the bosuns behavior. Plus, Rosbach said hed never consider working with Pienaar ever again.

Bravos The Daily Dish asked Pienaar about how the season has become an environment of men versus women. The whole misogynistic thing and the whole boys-verse-girls thing, thats kind of the theme of the way the season has gone. And, you know, I dont look at it as another boys thing, as this female-against-male thing, he asserted. If the guys had issues withKate [Chastain]andRhylee [Gerber]throughout the season thats what it [is].

Pienaar points out that he wasnt the only person who had an issue with Chastain. Everybody has their fair share of run-ins with Kate, he said. Brian had the [moment] where he called her a bitch, which obviously blew up. AndIve had my issues with Kate.

He then doubled down on why the entire deck team couldnt work with Gerber. We didnt not get along with Rhylee because shes female, he insisted. We did not get along with Rhylee because shes Rhylee, and she has the attitude that she has.

Pienaar also thinks some of the drama was due to small instances that were blown out of proportion. Anything negative, whether it was socially on the boat or a little joke or something like that, was really magnified, he said.

Viewers saw Pienaars reaction when Rosbach told him Gerber would replace deckhand Abbi Murphy. They also saw the number of times where he would continue to complain to his deck team about Gerber too. Gerber told Showbiz Cheat Sheet in November that Pienaar has held a grudge against her since season 6.

However, she was optimistic about her return and hoped to finally get a chance to dig in and learn more on deck. But I also had this dreaded feeling, you know, hes probably going to be gunning for me, she said. When she finally saw Pienaar, I think his heart literally stopped.

The problem is that Pienaars ego is out of control, Gerber said. Ashton has the biggest ego out of anybody Ive ever met, she said. With that, theres pros and cons because I know hes going to try to make himself look good as bosun, which means he was going to try to make it appear like he was being fair.

Gerber told Decider she even came into this season holding back, which she now regrets. She added that unfortunately, Pienaar allowed his personal pre-conceived opinion cloud his ability to lead the team. I think Ashton has all the qualities a bosun should have, without ever having been in the position myself. He can be a great leader if he remembers to keep his personal feelings aside. Because now youre in charge and its your responsibility to set that tone, and he very much shares his opinion with the crew so thats lacking leadership. However, when it comes to trying to plan things out and incorporate everybody, he did a much better job with that than Chander did.

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'Below Deck': Ashton Pienaar Insists He Isn't the Only One Responsible for the Drama This Season - Showbiz Cheat Sheet