Below Deck Med star chef Johnathan “Jono” Shillingford has become the latest cast member to speak out about charter guests Mahisha Dellinger and Neysla Paltsev.
The two women were blasted for their rude behavior during their charter on Below Deck Med Season 9.
All of the backlash led to Neysla apologizing for her actions with Chief Stew Aesha Scott and at other times on the show.
As Monsters and Critics previously reported, Mahisha spoke out to set the record straight on her behavior, and things Below Deck Med viewers didn’t see on-screen.
Captain Sandy Yawn spoke out about the rude behavior; now, Jono is addressing the apologies.
The chef also had thoughts about Neylsa and Mahisha calling out editing.
Below Deck Med star chef Johnathan Shillingford reacts to the apology from rude guests, and the edit claims
Speaking with Us Weekly to talk all things Below Deck Med Season 9, as the end nears, Jono addressed the apologies.
“I think their apology was great for sure [where they were] taking responsibility for some of their snarky comments,” he shared.
Jono was here for Mahisha and Neylsa taking responsibility for their actions, but that doesn’t mean their actions on the Mustique yacht were okay.
“While that’s not OK, some people may have a bad day. The fact that they took responsibility for it was a great move on their part,” the chef expressed.
One thing Jono can’t justify is the editing. While neither Neylsa nor Mashisha said they got a bad edit, they did express that things were spliced together and didn’t happen as fans necessarily saw.
“In any show, there are things that are cut [or] things that maybe were dramatized because the camera does that anyways. Regardless of all of that, they did say things that were offensive,” Jono dished to Us Weekly.
While the chef has no ill will toward the guests, he did give props to Aesha Scott for handling the situation.
Chef Johnathan Shillingford weighs on Aesha Scott schooling charter guests on Below Deck Med
During an interview with Decider, Jono was asked to weigh in on how Aesha handled Neylsa, who was trying to call out Aesha on the silverware, aka the butter knife, versus a fish knife drama.
It should surprise no one that Jono agreed with Aesha because she handled the criticism with class and grace.
“She handled it well. She wasn’t rude or anything. She just responded with that’s not a butter knife. It’s a fish knife, and here’s why. Aesha knows her table settings. She’s studied to know better than the charter guest who is trying to call her out. She handled it pretty well,” the chef stated.
For her part, Aesha admitted she felt really good standing up for herself and kindly putting the charter guest in her place.
Below Deck Med has basically been about the Joe Bradley, Bri Muller, and Elena Dubaich drama, so it’s nice to see something else getting the show buzz, even if it is for bad behavior.
Joe’s getting dragged for his bad behavior, and you can read what the haters are saying here.
Below Deck Med airs Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo. Seasons 1-9 are streaming on Peacock.