Former Below Deck Stars That Now Have Normal Jobs

Bravo's "Below Deck" is a reality show that follows the adventures of yacht crews in glamorous destinations around the world. The original show currently has four spinoffs: "Below Deck Mediterranean," "Below Deck Down Under," "Below Deck Adventure," and "Below Deck Sailing Yacht."

There are many important positions on a "Below Deck" ship, such as the bosuns, the stewardesses (also called stews), the deckhands, and the chef. Viewers get to see the yacht crews navigate the difficulties of working with their charter guests, who are often not easy to deal with, and who sometimes do wild things on the yachts, like leaving messes behind or fighting over a handsome crew member. 

The excitement on the show is not limited to whatever crazy shenanigans the charter guests get up to, however. The crews always seem to have troubles amongst themselves. "Below Deck Sailing Yacht" is a "petri dish for drama" according to Season 3 stew Gabriela Barragan. And some former cast members on the show have decided to abandon their rocky lives on the ocean to work normal jobs.

The chief stew on "Below Deck Sailing Yacht" Season 1, Jenna MacGillivray, went from a career in yachting to social work, and then back to yacht life. After leaving the show, she returned to the world of social work once again — and she found new love after her relationship with "Below Deck" costar Adam Glick. 

MacGillivray told Showbiz Cheat Sheet that a friend set her and her now-husband, Dave Cartmill, up on a date, but his sister and mother were her work colleagues even before then. "We met and it was just like so easy and there weren't any doubts in my mind," MacGillivray told the outlet. "And he felt the same. There were no communication issues. It was just like very clear that we both felt the same way."

He proposed in Lake Superior while on a camping trip, and the couple wed on August 4, 2023. In an Instagram post of wedding pictures from August 5, MacGillivray said, "My heart is full," with a heart emoji. Many of her followers commented with "Congratulations" messages for her and Cartmill.

Dani Soares from "Below Deck Sailing Yacht" Season 2 is another one of the crew members who has moved into a non-sailing-based career. Her Instagram bio states that she is a nursing student, and she also posts ads on Instagram for a variety of brand deals. An E! Online wrap-up on former "Below Deck Sailing Yacht" stars said Soares and her daughter, Lilly, live in Sydney, Australia.

Soares' pregnancy announcement for Lilly caused a stir because of speculation that Jean-Luc Cerza Lanaux, a deckhand and Soares' love interest on their season of the show, was the baby's father. Things got juicier when a charter guest accidentally let it slip that Lanaux was the father in an Instagram livestream. (Who needs Maury Povich for paternity reveals when you have nosy charter guests?)

Although Lanaux wasn't convinced at first that he was the father, a paternity test confirmed it and he took to Instagram in January 2022 to announce the news. However, there has been no mention of Soares or Lilly on his feed since then. Soares also does not seem to post anything about Lanaux. That could be because of a nasty comment Lanaux's mother left about her on Instagram, which Soares told Andy Cohen about on a "Watch What Happens Live" episode in June 2021.

Former "Below Deck Sailing Yacht" Season 3 chef Marcos Spaziani has given up yacht life, but not chef life. On the show's Season 3 reunion episode of "Watch What Happens Live," he said he was working with UCLA and "cooking for 1,600 people per day." He added, "So, yeah, I'm pretty booked all the time" (via Bravo TV). Spaziani and his chef partner Louis Huh also have a food truck business called ML Eats that they started before his reality TV appearance. They even used to have a few restaurants around LA.

Although those ventures have closed, Reality Tea reported in August 2023 that the duo was opening a new restaurant in Beverly Hills called Lou'Mar. An insider told the outlet, "With its grand opening just around the corner, Lou'Mar is set to redefine the Beverly Hills culinary scene, inviting guests on an unforgettable journey of flavor and artistry."

Spaziani spoke about the new restaurant shortly before its opening in a Dexerto interview, where he made it clear that he'd never appear on "Below Deck" again, and he'd only cook on another boat for leisure. "Working in boats," Spaziani said, "it's a very lonely life. It's great money, you travel around the world, it's beautiful — but you're pretty much alone all the time. You're around a lot of people, but they're not the people you want to be with."

Anyone who saw "Below Deck Down Under" Season 1 knows that Ryan McKeown left with a "cheeky" goodbye, mooning Captain Jason on the dock after being fired from the yacht. He was let go because many of the charter guests were unhappy with his meals. McKeown's been embroiled in drama since his tenure on the show, publicly smack-talking "Below Deck Down Under" chief stew Aesha Scott in various interviews. He told Bravo TV's The Daily Dish, "My arrogance was stemmed by [Scott]," claiming that his bad attitude on the yacht was her fault and based on their first interaction.

As of 2023, Ryan often posts cooking videos on his Instagram. The Daily Dish shared one of Ryan's first scenes from "Below Deck Down Under," and it seemed to foreshadow what he is planning to do now. In the clip, he said, "My father owned pizzerias." Ryan looks to be following in his father's footsteps and open pizzerias himself because his Instagram bio links to an account for Peppi's Pizza.

The pizzeria's page says it's "COMING SOON" to Miami and Philadelphia. Those same locations are mentioned in the bio of Ryan's personal account. Although it's not confirmed, it's likely that the former owner of Pippo's Pizza and Pasta, James McKeown, is Ryan's father. According to James' obituary, his nickname was "Peppi," which would explain how Ryan came up with the name for his restaurant.