Below Deck Down Underseason 3’s new bosun, Wihan Du Toit, has been struggling to connect with the rest of his crew all season, andhis behavior including some misogynistic comments has me feeling that he’s reached an all-time low. Wihan, who joinedBelow Deck Down Underseason 3with an abundance of experience under his belt, has been one of the most difficult parts of the season thus far. While he’s been working aboard Captain Jason Chambers' superyacht with some sense of urgency, he hasn’t been living up to the captain’s or crew’s expectations for his overall bosun performance.
Wihan’s overly lackadaisical style of managementhas been the thing that viewers have taken notice of the most surrounding the professional side of his performance, but his personal peformance has suffered, too. On top of his casual management, Wihan’s consistently had problems with the women of Katina. After getting into a flirtation with Chef Tzarina Mace-Ralph early in the season, Wihan made it clear that he was open to a romance, but didn’t like the idea of one with the chef. Moving on to Adair Werley quickly,Wihan has made his lack of respect for the women aboard Katina clear.
I think replacing Wihan and cutting the season’s losses would be the show’s best bet.
Wihan Has Been Polarizing With His Boatmances
Viewers Don’t Enjoy His Romantic Side
Throughout the majority ofBelow Deck Down Underseason 3,Wihan has gotten himself into several faux-romantic situationsthat he didn’t necessarily want to be a part of. After finding himself in a flirtationship with Chef Tzarina, Wihan did his best to move away from the chef with grace, but didn’t manage to extract himself from the situation in the best way. Though he wasn’t interested in Tzarina,he led her on more than he should’ve, causing her to feel like she had a chancewith the new bosun. Once he set his sights on Adair, things changed quite quickly.
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After a brief moment feeling an attraction with Brianna Duffield,Wihan found himself interested in Adair, the deckhand/stew who has been part of his team since the beginning. ThroughoutBelow Deck Down Underseason 3, the exterior team has struggled in general, but when Wihan began feeling attracted to Adair, his work ethic suffered even further than it already had been. WhileWihan’s attraction to Adair seems like it’s authentic, the way he’s gone about the relationship has been strange to watch. From Wihan’s overly gushy love letter to the way his attraction has impacted his work, Wihan’s not himself.
Wihan Has Not Been A Likable Or Effective Leader
He Has No Sense Of Urgency Or Direction
As the season has progressed, it’s been clear that Wihan isn’t a good leader in any capacity, nor has he been able to rally the rest of the team into a better performance. The exterior teamof aBelow Deckcrewhas to be spot on throughout the charter season in order to keep the rest of the superyacht running smoothly, to the point that they should be somewhat invisible to the guests when they’re doing their jobs well. While the exterior team has been able to manage their jobs to an extent,they’ve had a hard time understanding Wihan.
As the leader ofthe exterior team beneath Captain Jason, Wihan is expected to be able to give clear direction and work through team issues with a pressing but understanding tone. ThroughoutBelow Deck Down Underseason 3,viewers have watched as Wihan has been unable to give proper direction, which has led to tough moments for the team. Wihan has been egregious in the way he’s ignored the idea of giving direct orders or directions, instead trying to let the team function without his input. This has caused major communication issues, which stem directly from his poor leadership style.
Wihan Made Egregious Comments About Women
He’s Been Difficult About Women
Below Deck’sWihan has not only been a poor leader with bad communication skills in his professional world, he’s made some awful comments about the women aboard Katina. Though he’d been mostly a theoretical misogynist until the most recent episode of the series, in a recent episode ofBelow Deck Down Underseason 3, Wihan made some tough comments about the women on board, making it clear what his views are about women in general and where he stands on his female colleagues. Though Wihan may not believe he said anything hurtful or harmful,his words were defamatory and derogatory.
Wihan took time in themost recent episode ofBelow Deck Down Underto make a sweeping generalization about women, sharing that he felt older women get jealous of others as they age. Explaining that he felt women"don’t have anything going for them anymore"when they pass a menial threshold age, he shared he feels that they then start getting jealous of others, specifically younger women who have more"going for them,“which, for Wihan, likely means romantic prospects.
“You know what, people envy, especially women When they hit a certain age, they don’t have anything going for them anymore, and they’re f***ing like, their lives are terrible. They start yapping the whole time.”
Wihan’s comments were difficult to hear, and the fact that he felt so strongly about his position was overwhelming. While Wihan may be correct for some older women, the generalization he felt comfortable making proves that he doesn’t have an inherent understanding of women in the way he believes he does. Wihan’s comments make older women look bad, and appear to communicate that he doesn’t have much concern or care for them despite them frequently being the oneswho pay his bills onBelow Deck.
Can Wihan Redeem Himself?
He May Have Gone Too Far
AlthoughWihan has had some moments throughout the seasonthat could’ve redeemed a few of his more difficult moments, it’s clear that his most recent comments took things too far. If Wihan can’t be respectful of the crew he works with, the women he’s interested in romantically, or the women who he works for onBelow Deck Down Under,I think it’s fair to say that he lacks respect for women. The comments he made were misogynistic in nature, and though he may not be a misogynist,Wihan’s lack of understanding of anyone other than himself shows who he is.
AsBelow Deck Down Underseason 3 continues,Wihan’s behavior is likely only going to get worse. While he hasn’t caused any major issues as of yet, the bosun has been difficult to manage, has struggled to create a healthy working environment for the rest of his team, and has been uninteresting to watch from a viewer standpoint. At this point, I thinkreplacing Wihan and cutting the season’s losseswould be the show’s best bet, and I hope to see that play out onBelow Deck Down Underas the episodes continue to air.
Below Deck Down Underairs Mondays at 8 p.m. EDT on Bravo.
