A Look At The Friendship Between Below Deck Besties Jessika Makanalani And Heather Kapiolani

Some people have questioned if "Below Deck" is real or staged, but one thing's for certain — the drama is real. Very often on "Below Deck" and its many spin-offs, the members of the charter crew may butt heads. Sometimes, even the captains get in on the drama, evidenced by the feud between Captain Sandy and Captain Lee. It's not all bad blood on the open ocean, however. Crew members often strike up friendships or romantic relationships, likely due to the close quarters and amount of time they spend together. One pair of "Below Deck" stars who were in different versions of the show are actually friends off-screen. 

Stew Jessika Makanalani (also known as Jessika Asai) from "Below Deck Mediterranean" Season 8 is friends with Heather Kapiolani (also known as Heather Chase), who was the chief stew in "Below Deck" Season 9. They met before either of them entered the world of reality television.

In 2018, Makanalani shared a photo on Instagram of herself and Kapiolani with the caption, "allll the way from Hawaii to Fort Lauderdale ... Can't wait to see what the future holds for our drunken nights & crazy adventures." Makanalani also included multiple hashtags, one being "#yachties," so both of them were working on yachts prior to their time on "Below Deck."

Although Jessika Makanalani and Heather Kapiolani didn't star in the same "Below Deck" franchise, they worked together on a yacht. In July 2019, Kapiolani shared two photos of herself and Makanalani on Instagram. They were on the deck of a yacht that they were working on. Kapiolani's caption read, "When your [sic] on day three underway ... Haven't seen land since Thursday. Pretty sure we're going a little crazy, but that's ok. I've got @jessikaasai by my side." Kapiolani also mentioned that they'd been biding their time with some of Bradley Cooper's filmography and lots of food and added, "Enjoying these slow moments before the real trip begins."

Makanalani shared one of the same photos to Instagram as well with the caption, "working with your best friend >." She also included some relevant hashtags, such as "#stewardess," implying that both women were stews for that charter. Kapiolani had commented on the post, "Still can't believe this is real ... pinch me."

In 2021, Makanalani shared another photo of herself and Kapiolani on Instagram, but a snapshot with her friend posted in 2022 caused a stir a while later.

After it was announced that Jessika Makanalani would be on "Below Deck Mediterranean," the multitude of Instagram photos she'd shared featuring Heather Kapiolani were noticed by "Below Deck" fans on Reddit. They weren't too pleased, with one person commenting, "this is a red flag, heather sucks."

That was because Kapiolani had been embroiled in a scandal from her season on "Below Deck," when she said a racial slur on a night out and then when singing along to a song. Kapiolani's co-star on the show, Rayna Lindsey, confronted her about that. Kapiolani shared an apology on Instagram, but it seems to have been deleted. According to Dexerto, Kapiolani's apology post expressed how badly she felt for her actions and said, "Part of my responsibility as Chief Stewardess is to provide a welcoming, safe environment for the crew and I fell short. Over the past nine months since this episode was filmed, I have learned how my words and actions can affect others and I vow to do better in the future."

Kapiolani wasn't a part of the "Below Deck" Season 10 cast, and she posted on Instagram in May 2023 to announce her departure from her yachting career. It seems if Makanalani and Kapiolani are ever on a yacht together again, it could be for a vacation instead of for work.