Mention It All - Below Deck Goes To Norway Ft. Faye Clark (Below Deck Adventure)

Episode Date: November 15, 2022

The latest chief stew to join the Below Deck universe, Faye Clark, stops by the Betches studio to share some secrets about Below Deck Adventure. She and Dylan discuss her journey in yachting, and why going to Norway was an exciting new challenge. Faye also breaks down her complicated dynamics with chefs and other stews, and explains why her boatmance standards have come a long way. Check out our latest promo codes here: https://betches.com/promos Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Ha ha, laugh, funny. Mention It All. A Bravo by Betches podcast. We don't say that, but now we said it. With Dylan Hafer. We'll go check me, though. Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the Mentioned All podcast.

I'm Dylan Hafer, and today I am excited to be joined in the studio by our newest below-deck chief stew from Below Deck Adventure. Please welcome Faye Clark. Hello, hi. How are you doing? I'm so glad to have you here. I love New York, and I'm really happy to be here. Thank you.

So your show premiered a couple weeks ago. You've been, you know, riding on the high seas of Norway. How has this experience been so far of doing the show? To be honest, the show was really difficult. There were so many challenges thrown at us, but I wouldn't change it for the world. And I generally think after doing that season, I can probably do anything that's thrown at me moving forward. And it's just a great blow deck. It's full of adventure and lots of challenges and very interesting.

entertaining. I'm curious to know a little bit more about your background in yachting and how you what happened and how you kind of got to this place. Okay. So I was actually working in Dubai as a business manager like makeup artist and I was like I've got to get out. I need a job where I can go to work in flip flops rather than stilettos. So actually flew myself to Italy and I just walked around a place called Virreggio until I just met somebody in a coffee. shop who happened to be an owner of a fleet of yachts. And I ended up working for him for nearly three years. So you were, in that time, were you in the med working there? Yeah, so that was, yeah, I just flew myself from Dubai to Italy. And that's where my yachting career, like, took off.

So I worked for him for like three years. I was managing all his boats. I stepped up to Chiefs Stu pretty quick because I joined this industry when I was like 33. So I had quite a lot. of like experience behind me, managing people and things like that. So then my career just went on and on. And I went from chef to soul stew to chief stew to Decky. I covered everything really. You've been a chef before? Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Does that make it harder for you to work with other chefs on the boat because you kind of have a little bit of. Absolutely. Because I think, you know, when I was growing up, My house was always full of people.

So like my brother would come back and bring all the football team or this and that. And it was always me that was cooking breakfast for them. So I'm used to dealing with a lot of people. It's just second nature to me. So when chefs, you know, get very stressed at cooking poached eggs and things like that for like eight people, I'm just like, really? This is your job. So, I mean, don't get me wrong. There's some chefs that are amazing.

And it is a very high-pressure job. But, you know, if you're creative, you should. be enjoying it, not being stressed at it, I feel. We'll get back to the chef dynamic a little bit. But so you're in Italy. You're doing all of this stuff on the boats. How do you, how does Below Deck come onto your radar? Right.

So after about four and a half years, below deck came. Well, basically everyone I met was like, Faye, you need to go on Below Deck. There's a show and it's all about yachting. You'd be great on it. And it just seemed like everyone I met was telling me to go on it. even like people from Australia and stuff were messaging me on Instagram saying you've got to go on the show. And at the time I was working on a beautiful super yacht and the owner of the yacht was obsessed with Blow Dick. He watched it morning, day and night.

And I was like, you know what? I'm going to give it a go. And I like not auditioned, but I had like an interview with people in New York and L.A. And they were like, we love you. We want you to come. And at the time, then I changed to another job where I was actually on like a fishing boat in like South Carolina. And I was so happy, so content. I love my crew.

And I was like, do I really want to go like on below deck and, you know, like in Norway and just create like absolute madness in my life? And I was like, yeah, I do. So that's me. That's me all over. I've heard people say before the idea of doing a show like this that it's a lot. harder to get in than it is to get out. So it's like if you do one season and it's not for you, you could go back to South Carolina on your fishing boat. But it's like you got to do, you've got to take the opportunity. It's like what I said before. Like once you do something like

Blowdex, especially the adventure one, anything else is just going to seem boring. You know, so that's why we are addicted to the stress and the challenges, I suppose, that Blowdeck froze at us. Had you ever worked in a place like Norway before doing this season? No, I hadn't. I hadn't and that's what really attracted me to this particular series that it was adventure. Even the first day, like the preference meeting when it's like, oh, we're going to go to the caves and the hikes. I'm like, that's it. That's a lot. Normally you're just kind of like, okay, yeah, drinks, water toys, whatever. It's like, there's a lot that goes into it. Absolutely, because it's not just that I have to get all the eight guests on to say attender and get

them to the dark and then they have to go through mountains and hills and blah blah blah or whatever to get to the destination but I've also got the camera crew that I need to get them there as well everything needs to be on time everything needs to be captured and it like I said it was full on and I mean hats off to the cameraman because they got some fantastic footage and of the fields the mountains and everything and I mean some of the excursions I'm not going to give too much away but the camera men were literally hanging out of trees and like going down rivers. So yeah. I was even thinking on the first charter how they did the hike and the repelling and the cave thing. And then like Casey and Kyle had to come back and just go back to work. I'm like I would need,

I would be down for the rest of the day. Yeah. You need to be so diverse in this industry. Like one minute, like say you're doing cave in or horse riding and, you know, carrying everybody's bags and stuff. I mean, one time on below deck adventure i am was sat at the top of a mountain for about six hours with everybody's luggage making sure everyone um got off the mountain safely and then i have to go back do amazing table decor poor champagne make beds you know talk to the chef you just there you just have to be like a swiss army knife i suppose do you think the experience of doing it on camera like doing your whole job for the show. Did it change your kind of work experience at all?

To be honest, because it was so demanding on the show and it was back-to-back charters, there were certain things that I let slide that I wouldn't usually on like a, you know, in real life situation kind of thing. But I don't know, it's just such fast pace and all I concentrated on and all I wanted was my guests to have a great time, whether that's like theme parties, great food, great excursions, and everything else I was just going to deal with at a later date.

So my guests came first before anything. So you have a lot of experience managing people, like you said, as a chief stew. What is the reaction when you find out that one of your stews that you're managing has chief stew experience? Well, I did find out that and obviously you think, I mean, I'm human. You think, is she going to judge me? Is she going to be better at it than me? Is she going to be telling me what to do?

But at the end of the day, like on a blowdeck adventure, Oriana, my second, such a touchy subject. You know, she's 10 years younger than me. said to her, look, this is nothing against, like, you or I, at the end of the day, I'm 37, I've managed people for a long time, you know, let's just ride with it. And I just want us to be a team, you know, there's no, I'm higher here, you're there, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, just get the job done. I don't care how it gets done. Just get it done. I think also it's like, obviously there can be a weird dynamic of, oh, do you know how to do this

better than me, whatever. But at the same time, like you said, it's about making the best experience for the guests, getting the job done as a team. So it's like the petty stuff of like, I don't like to be told what to do. It's like, it doesn't really matter that much. Yeah, absolutely. And I said to the girls, until I can actually physically see with my eyes where your strengths and weaknesses are, no one's going to be a third or a second. We're just pulling together as a team. And then if I see that Casey's really quick at say table decor, she's going to do that. If Oriana's really quick at doing and beds and heads, she's going to do that. If, you know, Casey's really good at interacting with the guests,

then I'll put her up, you know, do, do, do. But until I saw, you know, how they were and how they acted and stuff, then I wasn't going to designate anyone anywhere. What did you think about the dynamic between Oriana and Casey, having worked together in the past? We're already seeing just a couple episodes in that they are, you know, not the biggest fans of each other, maybe. Honestly, I am constantly in the middle the whole time between like Oriana and Jess,

Ariana and Casey. And as a chief stew, you are like the mother to everybody. You are like the friend, the leader, everything. So you're always in the middle. I was always trying to keep the peace between them too because obviously, you know, two girls that age working so closely together, they're going to get on each other's nerves and they're going to come to me and complain. and there's just it's just life.

If that didn't happen, it wouldn't be life, I suppose. And you kind of have to be like, okay, so you're telling me this one thing, but there's two sides of the story. Exactly. Yeah, exactly. You know how it goes, yeah. Yeah, I've watched plenty of blowdeck. I wouldn't say I've been in that situation.

But I'm like, you know, you start to pick up on the patterns season after season. It's like, Oriana would come to me, she'd go, oh, Casey is so slow. And then she'd walk off. And then Casey would come at, Ariana, it's just so slow. And I'm like, oh, God. You're like, please, somebody just set the table. Yeah, fast. Ready to soundtrack your summer?

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Your next obsession is waiting. Watch only on Prime. So going back to you said you had some experience as a chef and that can kind of make, you know, your relationships with other chefs a little more interesting. Where does Jess fall kind of in all of the chefs you've worked with, like in terms of how she is at her job? Probably on par with most of my chefs that I've worked with. When you try and ask chefs to maybe produce some food or some lunch and stuff off board,

they don't like it because either the food can get cold. It's the presentation's not how they want it. It's thinking outside the box is taking them out their comfort zone and they just do not want to do it. So I think, you know, most chefs don't like to, you know, like I said, eat off board. but as a person I really like Jess she's the same age as me she's she left home the same age as me as well she's self-African I'm British

and we've just been like almost winging our way around the world but doing it to the best we possibly can and to be the best people that we can whether it be a chef, makeup artist chief stew whatever and no she had a lot of pressure the galley wasn't very good

she burnt her hand severely you know she's cooking for the crew as well as all the guests. And, you know, there wasn't much space. And, you know, hats off to her. She did really well. Yeah, I think obviously on the show sometimes when you're watching, they like to play up when things are a little chaotic

or when there's a lack of communication. But like you said, it's not an ideal, it's never an ideal situation in this galley setup with the stew pantry seems to be. Oh my God, yeah. Yeah. My calves got so big after that season, just going up and down.

them stairs. And also the galley was right next to the dining table. So whatever we said in the galley, the guests could hear it. So if there was like a big fight going off or like, I don't know, things going on fire, which there was. And, you know, the guests could hear everything. And there was so many times, like, just shush, just shut up, just shut up. So, like, go go fight somewhere else. Yeah. We've got, we've got dinner to serve. Yeah. And on the last, the very, last episode, it was a fantastic episode, the dinner service and everything, everything, the party was amazing. And Nathan is actually like dancing and singing around the galley. And I'm like, no, son, not tonight. Yeah, you've got a, you've got a lot of guys to, to wrangle this season.

Oh, yeah. What was your reaction watching on that first excursion with Kyle and Casey? how did you what was it like watching that episode especially knowing that you're Casey's manager yeah I mean it's cringy it is cringy and like Carl is just him and I think Casey's probably dealt with that many times before and I don't know the thing is you in that situation you try and be nice and put somebody in their place but sometimes you just have to be a little bit more firmer and I think that's what Kyle needed but he was joking I don't know but it's just not acceptable and it's very unprofessional as well. Mm-hmm.

And I think it felt kind of unfortunate that the way Captain heard about it was the guests talking at dinner because then it was like this whole, you know, kind of through the grapevine communication thing. And I did feel for her. I'm going to let you into a secret. There's so many times that me, Jess, Casey and Oriana covered for each other throughout this show and so many times we got caught just by like the guest. saying something just as they walk off the boat or the guests doing something and Captain

Kerry be like, what's that all about? And we're like, oh, no, we got caught. So it's going to be really entertaining. It's going to be funny. It's like sometimes the guests need to remember that they're not the ones on the reality show. Like you just get off the boat. Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

How did you find Captain Kerry to be dealing with crew disagreements and things like that? I love Captain Kerry. I couldn't have wished to have worked with a better captain. And if I get to work with him again, I'd be really happy because obviously he's Australian and, you know, Ozzy's. They're up for a laugh. They've got a lot of banter. But, you know, they'll tell you straight when they need to.

Like, come on, they'll crack the whip. I love the fact that as soon as we got on, we did health and safety training. You know, Captain Kerry would like, all right, love that, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah. And then all of a sudden he'll be like, no, that's not. And I respect that. So perfect captain for me, and I hope we can work together as a team again. Yeah, I think just from watching on all the different below-deck shows, it's like to be a great captain, you have to kind of have that balance of being understanding,

being able to get along well with your crew, but then also there is a time and a place to be a little more harsh. Yeah. I mean, when you're at the top or if you're a leader or a manager, it's always difficult because you do have to, you know, follow the rules and make sure everyone's professional, but you also need people to work with you and like you and respect you. And, I mean, the list just goes on and on. So being a captain, you don't just have to, you know, be able to drive the boat and navigate and all that kind of stuff. But you need to be a people's person as well.

Was that something as a manager of your team on this show? Did that, did you think about that in the sense of like, I'm on camera, people are going to be watching this, people are going to have opinions, and I don't want to come across as ex kind of manager. Yeah, I think like when I was talking and like auditioning for the part, I think they thought that I was going to be like a huge, huge, I can't put it, strict, bitch. I'm not sure I'm allowed to say that. You can say whatever.

Yeah, because of my managerial skills and background, but it's easy to be a bitch. Yeah, it's easy to be a bitch. be horrible. It's easy to shout. It's easy to just give orders. But to actually work with a team, get them to respect you, get them to work for you and with you is just a different way of managing. And it's like Jess was screaming and shouting and being really stressful saying in the galley. And people were saying, why are you not standing up to her? And I'm like, well, if I'm shouting and screaming and everything and she's shouting and screaming, it's just going to be an absolute, like, war in there. So you have to have thick skin and you have to bite your tongue when needed and then deal with

the situation when everything's calmer. So I think that's something that I learned from my like managerial background. That makes sense. And I think with the chef and chief stew relationship in particular, it's like if that's not going in a good direction, it's going to manifest with the entire boat. Yeah. And also like you'll see that Casey and Jesse's relationship become really close that it's almost like there's like teams and Jess and Casey team together but you need to understand that also

like chefs are in the galley all the time on their own you know Jess is there she can see us three girls we're out with the guests we're having fun we're doing table decor we're talking in the pantry and she's just down there on on her own kind of thing so I think she wanted to be part of the group but just the way the dynamics were she wasn't but yeah I think that's probably why her and Casey teamed up towards the end. But that's fine. You'll see what happens. She actually moves out of my room.

I don't know why. I don't know why I did. But yeah, she packs her bags and leaves my cabin. You know, sometimes you've got to get some space. Space. Yeah. Yeah. Own it all.

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You said on Watch What Happens Live last night that you aren't a big believer in boatmances or that you don't think they last after the season ends. Is that based on any personal experience you've had? Oh, absolutely. Like, gosh, decades are just the worst. They are, oh, no, they, I don't know. They're just, their heart is like their brain. I suppose they just want to travel and experience as much as they possibly can

and take as much as they can. And I just think about romance is just not ideal. The thing is, you know, we all get lonely at sea And everyone, and these guys have needs And they're just like, you know what I'm saying Do you feel like, are you past the point in your life and career Where you'll fall victim to a boatmance? Or is it still, do you still kind of get those moments?

Well, he'd have to bring a lot to the table Because I've got to an age where I'm really picky So he has to be tall, he has to be, clever. He has to be, you know, witty and confident and everything. Otherwise, I'm just not going to find him attractive. So, you know, I wouldn't say, no, I don't give up. I'm very resilient. But last, I'd say, four years, no one's floated my boat, shall we say. So you're not just like any deck he's going to look your way. And you're like, yeah, sure. No, no, no, I'm over it.

So it's like a recipe for disaster. Yeah, yeah. We all give it. ago, but no. I feel like if you're going to stay in this industry long enough, you got to kind of, you got to up the standards a little bit. Exactly. You're right. Yeah, because you couldn't get much lower than what I've been.

No, I'm, I'm sure you have taste. Okay. Is there anything, like, on this season, knowing that it's, you know, everything from the season is going to be airing on TV? Are there any moments that you're kind of like, I wish that had gone different? or like, do you have any kind of nervousness about stuff being shown? No, do you know what? I'm over it.

I'm over being nervous about what gets shown and stuff like that. Like I said, as long as the viewers are entertained, they're laughing, they see some drama, they see some action, and, you know, that they want to tune in for the next episode. That's all I care about. So if I do something embarrassing or whatever, have to take that on the chin. But before I obviously went for Blow Deck, I was so nervous that I wasn't going to do service, right? Or, you know, I wasn't going to do something correct and blah, blah, blah. And we all put so much pressure on ourselves to be perfect.

But in the end, we couldn't. Like I said, we just had to do what was expected of us, make sure the guests had a great time. And that was it. You're like, if something goes wrong, it's supposed to be an adventure. Yes, exactly, exactly. Is there anything on this season that you're most excited to get to watch and relive? Well, on the very last night, we all had a few drinks and stuff. And there was one guy, one of the Deckys, said that he only had one ball.

And the whole season, we were like, prove it, prove it. And he never did. And on the last night, he showed us. But the thing is, we all in, like, shot, we all closed our eyes. So now we still don't know whether he's telling the truth or not. Because we were like, ah, closed our eyes, screamed. And then we're like, did you see it? I was like, no, did you see it?

I closed my eyes. No, I closed my eyes. So that's, but the cameraman got it. So we'll all find out together. I'm not sure any of us will know because I think Bravo will blur that out pretty heavily. Oh, that's true, yeah. Yeah. So that's going to be a really funny, funny episode there.

What else? Something happened during paragliding that was shocking. Definitely will have the viewers on the edge of their seat there. Okay. If you were to do another below-deck season, would you want to stay in like a Norway-ish kind of climate? Or are you ready for some fun in the sun again? No, absolutely not. I would not go back to the Med or like the Bahamas.

I would definitely stay doing action. So like maybe Alaska or I don't know, somewhere like that would be amazing. So I'm only going to stick to adventure seasons. Okay. Well, I'm ready. The adventure, it's fun. We've had a lot of beaches. It's funny.

Yeah, we needed it. Yeah. Definitely. Well, Faye, this has been so great. Thank you for being here. Thank you. I've enjoyed it. I'm so excited to see the rest of the season and everything you have coming up.

Awesome. You better be because it's so much fun. Great. Thank you, everyone, for listening. Don't forget to rate review and follow the show. wherever you listen. You can follow us on Instagram at Bravo by Betches. And until next time, be cool. Don't be all like uncool. Mention It All is produced by Dylan Hafer, Sean Kilby, Jorge Morales Pico, and Rebecca Sousmacat. Editing by Horacee by Jolla, social media by Dylan Hafer, guest booking by Dylan Hafer and Ali Friedlander.

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