The thing about Below Deck that separates itself from the rest of the programming at Bravo, besides the fact it takes place at sea and not on land, is that the people filming are actually working. They are doing a real job with real-life consequences. We all remember where we were when Ashton Pienaar got his foot tangled in a rope and got dragged out to sea (thankfully, a cameraman threw his camera down and saved his life).
It was in that moment I really realized what a different show this actually is.
And there are so many parts of the show that I have always wondered about like, how, exactly, does the tipping work? Where does production sleep? But really, my biggest question is, do these guest party in silence?
With all the themes, the late-night dance parties, and the general vacation vibes, you'd think the yacht would be rocking. But, Below Deck Season 7 stew Courtney Skippon reveals that the guests aren't necessarily always allowed to play music.
So, yes, that means you're renting a mega-yacht (at a discount) for roughly $150,000, but if you want to sing along to Beyonce or dance the night away to Dua Lipa – sorry, you're probably out of luck. Even though you spent a ton of money, there's kind of a No Music Allowed policy. Courtney tells me:
"There's no music for production reasons, because you have to be able to hear people. And also, there's rights to music and whatever."
So, what did they do instead? "We had this sad little egg-speaker-thing, and it had this iPod attached to it with certain songs that were verified for use, and they were so bad."
Any Bravo fan can hear that Bravo-approved music in their head right now. It's like bootleg karaoke instrumentals with no lyrics, and like, no bass.
Fans have heard that Bravo-approved playlist on another show where, you'd think, pop music would be a necessity. Remember Camp Getaway? It aired in the summer of 2020 and, taking a page out of Below Deck's book, focused on the employees of an adult summer camp catering to their adult summer campers.
When The Dipp spoke to Camp Getaway cast member/camp counselor Glen North in July 2020, he told us that their playlists were inhibited, too. When it came to the late-night parties at camp, Glen told us "there was like a full on DJ there playing music and they just can't use the audio for those scenes, so I'm assuming that if you hear music, it's like Bravo-approved ones."
"There were some times where Bravo would put on music that they did have access to, and we would call it DJ Bravo was playing," he told us. Yup, that tracks!
DJ Bravo is such a thing, too, if you think about it. The music we hear during any night-out scene, or party scene, on any of these shows is always so hilarious. You think the Vanderpump and Summer/Winter House crews are blasting the crap we hear? I don't think so.
That said, I would walk down the aisle to a DJ Bravo song any day of the week. Especially on a mega yacht.
Read more...
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