Below Deck Season 11’s Boatmances, Explained

Below Deck season 11 has already proven to be heavy on boatmances between the crew, some of which have fizzled out before they could even begin. While Below Deck is typically known for the drama between the crew, romance is never short on the St. David or any of the other vessels on the series. Crew members hook up frequently on the series, which can boil over into their working relationships and make things difficult aboard the superyacht. While there have been some epic boatmances in past seasons of Below Deck, the season is just getting to know each other.

In the first few episodes of Below Deck season 11, the crew has been able to share more about who they are and how they work aboard the St. David. Some have been able to slip a bit of romance into their day-to-day activities, but with charter guests to take care of and Captain Kerry Titheradge watching, they’ve only just started to branch out into the romance department. While things haven’t been choppy aboard the St. David when it comes to charter guests, the romantic waters surrounding the ship have been difficult to navigate for some of the St. David crew.

Ben And Sunny Hooked Up Early

After a tumultuous boatmance during Below Deck season 10 with Camille Lamb, Ben Willoughby swore he wasn’t going to find himself entangled in another relationship aboard the St. David. Moving into the lead deckhand position under Captain Kerry on Below Deck season 11, Ben has become more involved in his work and the crew as a whole. While he wasn’t looking for anything romantic, Ben is still Ben, and he quickly realized he felt an attraction toward Sunny Marquis when she got aboard the St. David. He was reserved at first, but hiding his feelings doesn’t come easy to Ben.

During the crew’s first outing, Ben found himself getting flirty with Sunny, who he’d been happy to work with on the exterior throughout the first charter. After their night out together, Ben wound up in the crew’s bunks with Sunny. The pair had been flirting all night, and while it didn’t go any further, shared a kiss in Ben’s bunk before everyone else went to bed. The deckhands were attracted to each other, but while Ben was interested in keeping it casual, he didn’t make anything clear to Sunny. Instead, their flirtation continued with the next set of charter guests.

Sunny Was Hurt By Ben’s Cheeky Behavior

Although Ben and Sunny’s relationship has been minimal throughout Below Deck season 11, the pair have chemistry that they haven’t denied. After their first kiss, Ben and Sunny continued to flirt aboard the St. David, but things came to a halt when Ben called Sunny out for a mistake she’d made over the radio where Captain Kerry could hear. Sunny felt embarrassed that he’d made her look bad in front of the captain, but when she confronted Ben about his behavior, he tried to brush it off. While it’s clear there’s tension between them, their boatmance may have already ended.

Barbie Felt Genuine Attraction To Jared

Elsewhere on the St. David, Barbie Pascual shared that though she was getting some flirty vibes from Kyle Stillie, she was actually interested in Jared Woodin. Barbie, who has been a bit intense as one of the stews aboard the St. David, hasn’t been investing much time in the idea of a boatmance. She shared that it wasn’t something she felt interested in during her interviews early in the season, but she shared that if she was interested in anyone on the St. David, it was Jared, who was a bit more mature than the other guys aboard the superyacht.

Barbie’s attraction to Jared wasn’t something she felt compelled to keep quiet, and during Below Deck season 11 episode 4, Barbie and Jared were tasked with setting up a wedding area for the charter guests. During setup, Barbie shared that she was attracted to Jared, who was happy to be able to return the sentiment. While he shared in an interview that he hadn’t expected to find anything romantic aboard the superyacht, he explained he was attracted to Barbie and interested in seeing if anything happened between them. Barbie, who is typically quite direct, was happy Jared felt the same.

Kyle Has Been Interested In Barbie All Season

While Barbie and Jared were exchanging flirty sentiments, Kyle sat back and waited for his moment. Kyle, who has been sharing just how attracted he is to Barbie all season, wasn’t thrilled at the idea of facing competition but shared that he didn’t feel like he had anything to compete with, as her relationship with Jared had barely taken off. Kyle explained that he was interested in playing the long game, as he felt things could heat up with Barbie at any moment. While Barbie wasn’t sure if she felt attraction toward Kyle, he didn’t want to give up hope.

Barbie May Have Already Chosen Kyle Over Jared

During a crew night out, Barbie, Kyle, Jared, and the rest of the St. David’s crew were having dinner together, celebrating a successful charter that had tipped well. The crew were excited to be spending some downtime together. With drinks flowing throughout the dinner, the crew were all loosening up and Barbie, who was sitting some ways away from Jared at the table, had her eyes on him instead of Kyle throughout the meal. While Jared was drinking, Barbie noticed that he’d gotten a bit sloppy. Barbie, who is typically very put together, shared Jared’s sloppiness turned her off entirely.

Irritated at how quickly Jared gave her the ick, Barbie went down to the beach to find Kyle. Though she’d asserted that she wasn’t interested in Kyle before, Barbie saw him in a new light after finding Jared to be such an unattractive drunk. She got a bit flirty with the Scottish deckhand, who was excited to finally be engaging with her in the way he’d wanted to for the entire charter season so far. While their boatmance hasn’t truly turned a corner on Below Deck season 11, it’s possible things will start to heat up for the pair soon.