Below Deck Med: Why Pete & Alex’s Intense Fights Were Edited Out

The storyline of Below Deck Mediterranean season 5 drastically changed due to issues with deckhand Pete Hunziker, and some pretty epic fights between Pete and fellow crew member Alex Radcliffe didn’t actually make it onto the series. The two deckhands shared a cabin and living in close quarters fueled tension between them. If the producers hadn’t been forced to change routes, the fights between them may have been a big focus in the season.

Pete was never a fan favorite. From the beginning, his attitude towards the female crew on the boat was off-putting to viewers. Most notably, Pete called bosun Malia White “sweetheart” on multiple occasions. She was his supervisor. He was then fired from the show after a racist and sexist post Pete shared on social media was discovered roughly three weeks into filming. Because Pete was terminated by Bravo and not by Captain Sandy, he stayed on board the boat throughout the entire season.

The Below Deck production team made Pete’s appearances in the show as minimal as possible after the firing. This led to the fights between him and Alex being completely removed from the season’s arc. Alex admitted on Pita Party, a video series hosted by the interior crew of Below Deck: Sailing Yacht season 3, that his portrayal on the show may have been completely different if not for Pete’s departure. Alex said that the tension between Pete and him really grew after Malia named Alex lead deckhand. “Me and Pete had a few like blowouts. Like we were f***ing in each other’s face,” he said. The former crew members also discussed how the editing of the show dramatically impacts how viewers perceive people in the cast.

Without the presence of Pete impacting Alex’s storyline, the editors instead focused on the flirtations between Alex and stewardess Bugsy Drake. This largely made Alex come off to viewers as a lovable jokester. Pete, on the other hand, was made out to be the bad guy of the season. Judging by his actions, he was the bad guy to a certain extent, but the editing certainly played up his faults. Pete definitely blamed Bravo for his inability to find a job due to the perceptions about his firing. Fans were upset by Pete’s perspective on the situation as it indicated that he still wasn’t really taking accountability for his actions.

The firing of Pete had a big impact on how Below Deck Mediterranean season 5 played out. If the fights between Pete and Alex had been shown, viewers’ perceptions of the crew might have been completely different. Bravo has not indicated that it will release any additional footage from the season, so fans will just have to imagine what kind of crew drama was left out at sea.

Source: Pita Party

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