Below Deck’s new chief stew, Francesca Rubi, talks about breaking down in tears on the Bravo show.
In the Season 8 trailer, Captain Lee Rosbach declares there is “no crying in yachting.” It turns out he is talking about Francesca and the moment happens early on in the season.
Francesca chatted with Entertainment Tonight regarding reaching her breaking point during her Below Deck premiere season.
The reality of reality television
The timeline of shooting the Bravo show threw Francesca off a bit. It was more challenging to adjust to the tight schedule than she initially thought it would be, especially the shorter charters.
As fans know, the charters are only a couple of days long, instead of a week. The crew must cram a maximum amount of fun into a short time period.
Francesca admitted she was under a tremendous amount of pressure. Besides the pressure, the chief stew was overextended and exhausted.
“I definitely didn’t get enough sleep or eat anything or drink any water,” she shared.
“I definitely put a lot of pressure on myself to be and do everything myself. That’s a little bit of myself that I didn’t really want to show, but in the end, I’m glad I did because it does show that I’ve got a heart, and I’m human.”
Learning a valuable lesson
Although charter guest Charley Walters notices Francesca appears stressed, the chief stew is grateful her crying breakdown did not occur in front of the guests.
Francesca needed to reach her breaking point to learn a valuable lesson; she must be more flexible and adaptable. Plus, the chief stew learned that taking on too much at once will only result in disaster.
The chief stew shared both she and bosun Eddie Lucas took on too much in the first couple of charters because of uncertainty regarding their crews.
“I ran myself to the breaking point, but over time, it gets a lot easier for us,” she explained to the website.
Despite the learning curve and pressure, Francesca Rubi would return to Below Deck in a heartbeat. Those first-time jitters are gone, so Francesca knows she would crush another season. She also wants a second chance to work with Captain Lee.
For now, though, Francesca wants fans to give her a chance and brace for one wild ride. She promises a crazy season full of firsts, which appears to be the theme for Season 8.
The premiere had a historic twist, one crew member leaving within the first 24 hours. Oh, and Captain Lee was in the hospital as the crew boarded the My Seanna.
Below Deck airs Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo.