In the Below Deck franchise, as is the case with most reality TV shows, there are a myriad of ways for its stars to make names for themselves. You can be a drunk troublemaker on crew nights off. You can go the “boatmance” route, which almost always doesn't end well. Or, if you're like chef Rachel Hargrove from the last season of the flagship series, you just say wildly sexual one-liners. Not so surprisingly, Hargrove made her notorious NSFW comebacks work in her favor and, quite literally, pay her rent.
Let’s rewind a bit first, though. In Season 8, the chef decided to quit the boat (that she she later returned to) after hearing a charter guest’s outrageous demands – but not before uttering her most infamous line: “Eat my cooter.” It was shocking for fans and even for her co-workers to hear something so raunchy -- and in front of the formidable Captain Lee, no less. So, along with being the first female chef in Below Deck’s history, she proved she really didn’t give a damn what others thought of her.
Rachel Hargrove then parlayed that notoriety into cold, hard cash after the season finished airing. The chef told Us Weekly recently that by saying her “Eat my cooter” line and others to willing customers on Cameo, a video messaging platform between celebs and fans, she was evidently able to cover her rent in full. But now I’m wondering exactly how many times one has to say cooter to get one’s bills paid. (In this article alone, I’ve had to say it three times myself…)
Regardless, it would seem Cameo is the place to go for controversial franchise alums. While the chef was busy collecting rent by saying cooter (that's four now), Below Deck: Mediterranean’s Season 6 villain (Lexi Wilson) was reportedly spilling details about her drama-filled TV stint on the platform. Prior to that, Wilson was blasting Bravo producers and even some of her co-stars for evidently being the real reason behind her firing and edit on the show.
Lexi Wilson technically didn't show up for the Mediterranean reunion special, which would seemingly indicate that she isn't coming back for another full season, either. Conversely, despite Rachel Hargrove’s own tough time on the reality TV series (wherein she was basically accused of being an alcoholic), she is back for the new season of the flagship show, along with former co-stars Captain Lee and bosun Eddie Lucas. Hargrove’s NSFW comebacks will be making a comeback as well. She said to Us Weekly:
We have an inside joke going [for] who could come up with the one-liners, you know, almost see how inappropriate we can get. We had a blast.
The October 25 season opener of Below Deck didn’t fail to deliver even more drama. Now, we just wait for things to apparently get more raunchy. New episodes premiere on Bravo on Mondays at 9 p.m. EST.
