Bravo’s Below Deck brings the drama to breath-taking Tahiti this season — as something goes horribly wrong with a crew member dragged overboard and underwater by a rope twisted round their leg.
The hair-raising accident looks like it could easily have been fatal, and has fans speculating about just who the unlucky soul is.
The highly rated show, set in a new watery locale each season, is known more for its racy antics — including plenty of sex, drinking, and fights — than it is for life-or-death drama, which means the dramatic event is garnering a lot of attention.
In an explosive video clip, a frantic voice yells, “man overboard,” and the next thing we see is the show’s Captain Lee crying out, “What?!”
The crew scrambles to save the person, and someone yells, “get the life ring!”
Thus far the identity of the person flailing about in the water has not been confirmed. But speculation is hot and heavy that the desperate crew member is Ashton Pienaar.
The person in the footage certainly looks like him, and the deckhand also posted some tantalizing pics to his Instagram in April showing himself with what appears to be some sort of bandage around his left leg.
We know from the footage that the overboard man got their left leg tangled in rope, so is this a smoking gun?
In a recent interview Captain Lee wouldn’t say who the person who fell overboard is, but revealed that the incident, “Was unlike anything I’ve experienced in 30-plus years of yachting … All I can say about it is that I hope I don’t ever have to go through that again.”
Below Deck air on Tuesday nights on Bravo at 9/8c.