Malia White has addressed Peter Hunziker’s sexist behavior, his demotion from being lead deckhand, and his firing from Below Deck Mediterranean.
The bosun joined her fellow crew member, Robert Westergaard, in a virtual chat with Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live. Andy came out of the gate with hard-hitting questions, addressing the elephant in the room, Pete.
Pete’s behavior and lead deckhand demotion
As viewers know, Pete’s creepy behavior got really bad in the last two episodes. His chat with Bugsy Drake in the crew mess was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The second stew was offended and concerned. Bugsy shared her thoughts about Pete with Malia, who told Bugsy to report the behavior to Captain Sandy Yawn. After the captain threatened to fire Pete, Malia demoted him from being the lead deckhand.
It was a pivotal part of the episode. Andy wasted no time asking Malia her thoughts on demoting Pete. She explained that his actions were not those of a lead deckhand.
“I think that compounded with other things that he wasn’t the face of the deck team,” she said. “The other guys had much better behaviors and attitudes. For me, it is not all about skill. It is about personality and how respectful people are.”
Plus, Malia thought Pete needed to learn a lesson.
Andy also asked what Malia thought of Pete’s interaction with Bugsy in the crew mess.
“I wasn’t there for that one, but he had a few of those. That was pretty vile and really inappropriate,” Malia shared.
Malia’s reaction to Pete being fired
Pete was a hot topic on WWHL. Andy continued by asking Malia and Rob their thoughts on Pete being fired from Below Deck Mediterranean.
“I agreed with it. I think inappropriate behavior and comments need to be held accountable. People need to be held accountable. I think Pete is learning that lesson right now,” Malia said.
Rob echoed Malia’s words. He also thought Pete’s “ego needed to be deflated,” so Rob agreed with Malia’s choice to demote Pete. The deckhand was Team Malia all the way.
Fans can watch the entire episode of WWHL with Rob and Malia here.
Malia White is one of the first Below Deck Mediterranean cast members to speak out on Peter Hunziker being fired. Captain Sandy has previously talked about Pete’s behavior, but that is it.
The topic will have to be addressed at the Season 5 Below Deck Med reunion when the crazy season is over.
Below Deck Mediterranean airs Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo.