Two members of the crew from Bravo’s Below Deck Down Under season 2 were swiftly fired after sexual misconduct following a night off the boat.
On Monday’s episode, bosun Luke Jones was terminated by Captain Jason Chambers after climbing into the bed of Margot Sisson naked — and “without consent” — while the stewardess was asleep.
Second stew Laura Bileskalne was then also fired for the inappropriate way she reacted to the incident between Luke and Margot, as well as for her behavior toward deckhand Adam Kodra during the same night.
The sequence of events began as the crew went together out in Cairns, Australia. After many shots were consumed by all, Margot noted that she was “really drunk” at dinner. Later, as crew members made their way back to the boat in taxis, chief stew Aesha Scott told deckhand Culver Bradbury that she was going to “watch” Margot. “I just want to chaperone her a bit,” Aesha said.
“You should come and cuddle with me,” Luke told Margot in the back of the car.
“No, let’s go,” said Margot.
“I just want to go to bed,” Margot then told Aesha as Aesha helped her onto the yacht and took her to her cabin.
Once in Margot’s cabin, Aesha told her, “I don’t want any drunkenness to be taken advantage of. So I’d just like to see you get into bed safely. I’ll get you water.”
Luke then appeared in Margot’s cabin in his boxers and said, “Let’s have a f — -ing jacuzzi,” before going and getting into the hot tub.
“I just saw the way that Luke was looking at you, and I’m feeling very protective,” Aesha told Margot.
Margot responded, “I am glad that you’re here. I don’t want to go in the jacuzzi, I want to go bed. All I want is water and bed, no Luke.”
After getting out of the hot tub, Luke then went back to his cabin and wrapped himself in a towel. Unexpectedly, after the power then went out on the boat, Aesha went to the crew mess, leaving Margot alone in her room. At that point, Luke went into Margot’s cabin and got into her bed naked while she was asleep.
Producers quickly intervened and told Luke he had to leave Margot’s bed “because she wants to go to bed,” but Luke ignored their instructiong and repeatedly told them, “Thank you, very much.”
Luke finally got out of Margot’s bed as the lights came back on. He then told the camera, “Can you f — — off for a second?” and slammed the door to Margot’s cabin, but the producers opened it again even as Luke repeatedly tried to close it.
“We can’t do that, she said no, she said no,” the producers told Luke. A frustrated Luke then left Margot’s cabin naked and said, “Jesus Christ, mate.”
Aesha then appeared and told Luke as he left Margot’s cabin, “Dude. “What the f — -?”
Laura then went to find Luke in his cabin and asked him, “What did you do? Honey, what happened?”
“Nothing, f — — them,” responded Luke. “Nothing, I was just sitting there.I had nothing to do with her. F — -ing hell, mate!”
Back in Margot’s cabin, Aesha relayed to Margot what had happened. “So we’ve had a power shortage,” said Aesha. “So, Laura and I went to the crew mess and I turned around and the producers were like, ‘Get out, get out,’ and then Luke runs out of here naked.”
A shocked Margot responded, “Oh my God. Ew, he was naked?”
“Did you consent to him being in here?” asked Aesha.
“No, I was asleep,” said Margot. “I did not invite that at all.”
“This is why I’m not f — -ing comfortable leaving you here,” said Aesha as she gets into bed with Margot. “I’m not having any of this f — -ing s — -.”
“I didn’t even know,” added Margot.
A tearful Aesha then woke up Captain Jason and relayed the events of the night to him.
“I just wanted to talk to you about something that’s happened tonight,” Aesha said, crying. “Basically we came home tonight and I just kind of felt like Luke kind of wanted to take advantage of Margot’s drunkenness a little bit. She was pretty out of it. And then the next thing I know the power goes out and Luke is f — -ing running out of Margot’s bed naked. She was completely unconscious.”
“Did anything happen?” asked Captain Jason.
“No,” said Aesha.
“So she’s safe? She’s safe yeah?” said Captain Jason.
“She’s safe,” said Aesha.
“Where is he now?” asked Captain Jason of Luke.
“Well now Luke is so freaked out that he got caught that he’s locked himself in his room. Culver is locked out of his room. It was so f — -ing wrong,” continued Aesha, still crying. “And I just feel like a lot of women have had history with things happen, and it just stresses me out if I ever see anyone being taken advantage of.”
Aesha — who during a 2019 episode of Below Deck Mediterranean previously shared her own experience with sexual assaulted — said in a confessional interview: “We don’t actually know what would have happened, but being in her bed naked and she’s got no idea, it actually makes my skin crawl.”
She continued, “You don’t have the right to put someone unconscious into that position. I have had a drunken sexual assault experience before and I never wanted that to happen to anyone else. And she’s just such a sweet angel, that the thought of anyone violating or being in her space it just makes me feel sick.”
Captain Jason then got a key to open Luke and Culver’s cabin and told Luke, “Hey, mate. You need to get up, mate. You need to go, you need to get off the boat tonight. We’re gonna put you in a hotel for the night.”
“What?” asked Luke.
“You’re in a hotel for the night,” said Captain Jason.
“Why?” asked Luke.
“We’ll talk about it tomorrow,” responded Captain Jason.
“I don’t need to be in a hotel,” said Luke. “I’m good, I’m good.”
“You’ve gotta get off, come on mate. Up,” continued Captain Jason. “Let’s make it easy. Grab a shirt, put your shoes on.”
The next morning, Laura and Margot discussing the night before and Margot asked Laura to jog her memory about their night out.
“What did we do after the restaurant? We just come here?” asked Margot.
“Yeah,” responded Laura.
“What did I do?” said Margot. “‘Cause Luke got into my bed naked. And it was weird.”
“Was his d — — standing?” asked Laura.
“I don’t remember,” said Margot.
A visibly shaken Margot later discusses the incident with Aesha and chef Tzarina Mace-Ralph and asked, “How long was he in my room for? Do you know?”
“I don’t know,” responded Aesha.
“I woke up feeling weird and I knew that whatever, like, happened wasn’t OK,” said Margot. “I was, like, Am I gonna wake up and he’s still here and i just have to act cool? But I’m glad that’s not the case because that would be reality hard for me. I just feel stupid.”
“Don’t ever feel stupid. He should feel stupid,” said Tzarina, holding her hand.
“I mean yeah, But I get … I was so drunk,” said Margot.
“Women should be able to be able to bed red-hot drunk if they want to be, we should be able to stand naked in a room and not have anyone do anything to us,” said Tzarina. “You know, you were allowed to be drunk, you were allowed to be. It’s the other person’s problem.”
In a confessional, a tearful Margot said, “I feel like disappointed in myself, I feel embarrassed, sad. I’m shocked and I’m processing it but i’m honestly just, i just feel so loved, it’s a lot of different emotions at once.”
Margot then called her sister Anna and mom to tell them what happened.
“What the f — -? Are you OK?” asked her sister.
“Yeah,” said Margot. “I don’t think he did anything because then the producers were knocking on the door and being like, ‘Get out,’ they made him leave thank God. I just feel really grossed out. I feel so stupid. I was probably being too flirty.”
“It’s not your fault,” her mom told her. “Sorry honey, sorry you had to go through that.”
“Me too,” added Margot.
Captain Jason then texted Luke and asked him to return to the boat “talk.” The rest of the crew then gathered in the main salon and Captain Jason told them that Luke will be coming back on board to collect his belongings and his employment was being terminated.
“We had an incident last night and I want to stress that this is a place that we respect each other,” Captain Jason told them. “Our cabin is our safety zone. That door is our boundary, that door is not to be opened unless it’s consensual. To walk into into someone else’s room without consent, indecent, is my limit.”
“Are we allowed to say goodbye?” asked Laura.
“No,” said Captain Jason.
Luke then returned to the boat and went into the crew mess with Captain Jason and told him, “I don’t really know what happened which is eating me up a little bit.”
“Last night there were boundaries crossed,” said Captain Jason. “There was indecency and you went into someone’s else cabin without consent.”
“Like I was naked?” asked Luke.
“Yeah,” said Captain Jason. “Unfortunately I’ve got nothing else but to terminate your employment.”
“I accept that,” said Luke. “I’m sorry, and I’m just so disappointed in my myself.”
Later in the episode, Margot and Laura were cleaning together and a tearful Laura told Margot, “S — -, I’m so sad. I can’t believe Luke is gone.”
“You’re sad? I’m not,” said Margot.
“You’re not?” said Laura.
“No. I mean I’m bummed about everything that happened,” said Margot, who then told Laura what happened.
“What would have happened if no one had been there?” Margot asked Laura. “You know? I don’t know. I’m still kind of processing it.”
“Oh poor Luke,” said Laura. “I should have just kept him happy. If he comes naked in my cabin I’d be like, ‘Hello! Yes!’”
“Yeah you would have loved it,” said Margot.
“But it’s his fault, he rejected me,” laughed Laura. “If he wouldn’t have done that, I would still be with him. I said I would make him regret and that came true like very big time. It’s his karma.”
“I’m just happy that he’s gone,” said Margot.
“Oh God and then he comes back for his bags and we can’t be there, we can’t say goodbye,” said Laura.
“Like, I don’t really want to talk to him,” said Margot.
In a confessional, Margot said, “What the f — -? How are you pouting right now? It’s all f — -ed up. she’s f — -ed up I think.”
In the laundry, Aesha and Adam then discussed the situation and Aesha told him that she’s noticed Laura has been “pretty intense” with him and wanted to check that he was OK.
“I think she thinks I’m playing around because I’m being nice about it,” said Adam. “I don’t want to get anyone in trouble or anything like that but maybe I’ve got to be more serious.”
“I saw it and it and was like, ‘I’ve got your back,’” said Aesha.
Meanwhile, in a confessional, Laura said that Captain Jason “should have given him a chance,” in regards to Luke. “It’s not fair,” said Laura. “It’s not deserved, and I don’t agree with it.”
She also told Margot in the laundry, “I just don’t think it’s fair anyways, I’m sorry for you, I just think it should be a warning, I don’t know. I’m just sad. I think he just meant it as a joke. He’s a funny guy, I don’t think he meant anything bad. He wouldn’t rape you or anything.”
“Yeah,” responded Margot.
Laura continued, “He’s a sexual person, I’m a sexual person, you’re a sexual person. We were joking, that thing was probably like, ‘Hahah,’ we all drunk.”
“I don’t know, said Margot.
Laura then pointed a finger at Margot’s behavior the night before: “And it’s not that you said, ‘No,’ to him the whole night, like he didn’t feel comfortable to come to you. He felt welcomed coming there.”
“I don’t think so, though,” said Margot. “Aesha said, ‘Don’t go in there,’ over and over again. Said like, ‘She’s really drunk leave her alone, don’t go in there. She’s passed out.”
Margot then told Aesha about her and Laura’s conversation in the laundry, with Aesha noting that Laura’s response was “so f — -ing inappropriate.” Aesha then relayed the conversation to Captain Jason and also told him how Laura’s interactions with Adam had been “very inappropriate, borderline sexual harassment”. “He’s like, ‘I feel like I’ve told her no and she’s not listening,’” Aesha said.
The night before, Laura also got into Adam’s bed and tried to massage him even though he had told her he didn’t want her to come into his cabin and to “watch herself” when they were in the hot tub.
After conversations with both Margot and Adam, Captain Jason then called Laura into the bridge.
“Two things, one, Adam feels uncomfortable with some moments out and he’s tired to say no and you have not listened to him and his boundaries to be set,” Captain Jason told her. “The second thing is, after my multiple speeches with the crew about boundaries, about respect. Did you not go into Margot and say, ‘Poor Luke, I wish he would come in and see me.’
“I actually went to her and said, asked how she’s’ feeling and is she OK,” said Laura.
“She’s not OK. They’re not OK,” said Captain Jason. “They feel there’s a big disconnect now, and it’s not want I want part of my team. You’ve disrespected exactly what I set out to do.”
“OK, but I understood what you said, I respect it,” said Laura.
“You didn’t show that,” said Captain Jason. “For you to go to Margot and say that shows you did not listen to a word I said about boundaries, and it showed little respect and empathy to Margot. I’m trying to move forward as a team, I’m trying to get that behind us and you’ve brought it straight back up, so in that I’m going to terminate your employment today.”
“Wow,” responded Laura. “But I don’t think i have done something wrong that I need to be terminated. Can you give me a warning?”
“No,” said Captain Jason. “I can’t go on with you as part of the team in the environment that I’m trying to set.”
Laura then told Captain Jason she think his decision is a “mistake,” before going to pack her belongings.
“I really think it was the right call,” Aesha told Captain Jason.
“I feel so much relief, I feel like a weight has been lifted,” Margot said in a confessional.
Below Deck Down Under airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo and can be streamed the next day on Peacock.
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