Two cast members from hit Australian reality series Below Deck Down Under have been sacked amid a sexual misconduct scandal on the show’s set.

Luke Jones and Laura Bileskalne were fired after separately getting into the beds of other members of the crew without consent, in the episode aired on August 7.

The latest episode of the show, which follows the jobs of staff catering to guests on a superyacht, included the moment Jones entered the cabin of cast member Margot Sisson naked and as she slept and attempted to climb into her bed.

It also included Bileskalne entering the room of cast member Adam Kodra and trying to massage and kiss him without consent before producers told her to ‘come down’.

UK domestic abuse charity Refuge praised the show for its handling of the incidents after the production team attempted to intervene and both Jones and Bileskalne were let go from their roles.

A spokesman for the charity said the episodes had ‘sparked vital conversations around consent’ and added: ‘We’re pleased to see that action was quickly taken to ensure a safe environment.’

On the show’s latest episode, which aired on Monday night, Luke Jones was terminated after climbing into the bed of Margot Sisson, who was naked and asleep, ‘without consent.’

Jones had been the ship’s bosun, the officer in charge of equipment and the crew.

Second stew Laura Bileskalne’s reaction to the incident also led to her getting let go by Captain Jason Chambers after she insisted to Sisson that Jones wasn’t to blame.

She was ultimately fired for showing ‘little respect and empathy’ toward Sisson as well as crossing boundaries with Adam Kodra.

The episode showed Sisson state over dinner that she was ‘really drunk’ before heading to bed.

Despite her state, Jones was seen repeatedly trying to flirt with Sisson and asked her to ‘cuddle’ with him as they sat in the back of a car together.

Chief stew Aesha Scott even told deckhand Culver Bradbury that she was going to keep an eye out for her, helping her back to her cabin and assuring her she would not let ‘any drunkenness’ get ‘taken advantage of’.

Sisson said ‘I am glad that you’re here’ but stated clearly: ‘I don’t want to go in the hot tub, I want to go bed. All I want is water and bed, no Luke.’

Returning from the hot tub, Jones went to Sisson’s cabin where she was alone and asleep.

Producers stepped in and told the bosun to leave her alone.

‘Can you f**k off for a second?’ he told the cameramen.

‘We can’t do that, she said no, she said no,’ the producers told him.

Scott returned to the cabin and told Sisson what had happened.

‘Oh my God. Ew, he was naked?’ Sisson responded, to which Scott asked: ‘Did you consent to him being in here?’  

‘No, I was asleep,’ said Margot. ‘I did not invite that at all.’

After establishing that Sisson was safe, Captain Jason was seen reviewing the night’s events with Luke the next morning, which he accepted, before ‘terminating’ his contract.

In the same episode, stewardess Laura Bileskalne was fired after then climbing into crewmate Adam Kodra’s bunkbed and trying to massage him. 

Kodra had told Bileskalne multiple times that he wasn’t interested in pursuing anything with her beyond a friendship.

He told the show’s producers: ‘I’m not interested in Laura in the slightest.

‘I’ve told her a million times, like I just wanna be friends, but it’s just not getting the point across so I don’t know what to do.’

After a night of drinking, Bileskalne followed Kodra to his cabin.

She told him ‘we need to close the door’ while holding a tube of moisturiser in her hand.

Kodra climbed into the top bunk and tried to go to sleep, but Laura put lotion on his back in an attempt to massage him.

Producers again were forced to step in, ordering her to stop.

‘Laura, I got a message from producers telling you to come down,’ the cameraman informed her.

She then kept rubbing Kodra’s back, before a producer burst in and told her to ‘step down’ and go back to her own cabin. 

Captain Jason also sacked Bileskalne over the incident, and for showing little empathy with Sisson.

The events took place last year but aired for the first time on Monday.

Unfortunately, this is not the first time that the Below Deck franchise has been embroiled in a sexual misconduct scandal.

Last year, Below Deck Sailing Yacht caused firestorm on social media after a controversial sexual encounter between two cast members.

Stewardess Ashley Marti had sex with the yacht’s First Officer Gary King while he was highly intoxicated, which many viewers deemed ‘inappropriate’.

Below Deck Down Under first aired in March 2022.

The show is a spin-off of the American reality TV show, Below Deck. 

Housebuilder Vistry – whose brands include Bovis Homes – plunged into chaos by sudden resignation of most senior independent director

By Patrick Tooher, Financial Mail On Sunday

Published: 16:51 EDT, 29 April 2023 | Updated: 16:51 EDT, 29 April 2023

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

POPULAR MONEY SECTIONS
Take me to…