Ashton Pienaar is finding his new management responsibilities challenging. As the Below Deck season progresses, it’s obvious that Ashton is having a hard time separating his role as bosun with his drunken alter-ego Smashton. Sure, he’s functioning quite well the next day physically. However, Ashton forgets that the time he spent bonding with his bros on a night out cannot cross into their professional life.
Since the return of Rhylee Gerber, it’s been a deck crew at odds. As in, the guys versus Rhylee. Ashton set the expectation from the beginning by warning Tanner Sterback and Brian de Saint Pern about her need for inclusivity and volatile personality. When Rhylee told Simone Mashile that Tanner was dishing on their hookup, Ashton treated it like a betrayal to the group. The tensions on these conflicts will come to a head during tonight’s week’s episode.
In light of the inevitable drama, Captain Lee Rosbach assessed the issue in his weekly blog. He noticed a pattern of behavior and said, “Ashton, I have no idea what you are thinking. Have you taken it upon yourself to just single out people and then try and turn the rest of the lemmings around to hate them?”
Captain Lee thinks Ashton made a mistake with Rhylee even before she stepped on the boat. He explained, “first, you poison the deck crew against Rhylee, without even giving her a chance to see if her attitude has changed, and you didn’t think she would be smart enough to see that right off? Then she acts out because of the way you set it up and you go, see, that’s what I was talking about. What did you realistically expect?”
RELATED: Below Deck Star Captain Lee Rosbach Hopes Ashton Pienaar Doesn’t Have A “Repeat Performance” Of His Drunken Antics
Ashton questioned Rhylee’s loyalty to the rest of the deck crew when he found that she enlightened Simone about Tanner’s comments. Captain Lee suggested that Ashton also tried to isolate Kate Chastain from the crew. He said, “now, because she told Simone what Simone has a right to know, that someone is discussing what I’m sure she wanted to keep private, she is not to be trusted because she defied your Bro Code. Then you start on Kate with the same thing.”
Captain Lee identified chef Kevin Dobson as another instigator. “Totally uncalled for and the only one I see causing most of the drama on this boat is the guys, you Tanner and Kevin,” Captain Lee wrote, “you should have told Tanner that his statement about Simone was inappropriate, not encouraged him to involve Rhylee. What if that was your sister, would you behave the same way, I think not.”
RELATED: Below Deck Star Captain Lee Rosbach Critiques Ashton Pienaar For Letting Abbi Murphy Sleep Off Her Hangover Instead Of Working
Captain Lee suggests copious amounts of alcohol may not be helping the situation. He cautioned that, “you guys need to get a grip on this before it gets out of control or I will. But you have done a pretty good job of hiding it until last night in the crew mess. Instead of getting out of control drunk on your nights out, you should be setting an example for your crew on how to have fun, and maybe even remember doing it.”
Ultimately, Captain Lee admitted, “I just see another frat boy doing his work, but not being a bosun. Not a leader at all. You have all the tools; I just hope that you start using them and this thing doesn’t take a turn for the worse.”
RELATED: Below Deck Star Tanner Sterback Says Rhylee Gerber Was Interested In Everyone But No One Wanted To Sleep With Her
TELL US- CAN ASHTON BRING THE DECK TEAM TOGETHER? DID ASHTON DRINK TOO MUCH? HOW SHOULD HE HAVE HANDLED THE SITUATION WITH RHYLEE DIFFERENTLY?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]