‘Below Deck’ Secrets Revealed – ‘Beginning of Filming Is Always Most Stressful’ Production Crew Member Exclusive

Below Deck hair and makeup artist, Natalie Castillo also worked on the production side of the series and gave Showbiz Cheat Sheet a peek behind the curtain.

Castillo often worked closely with the cast, running errands if a crew member needed hairspray while on charter, for example. But she also managed the crew when they weren’t on the boat, usually ensuring that they were safe.

‘Below Deck’ production has to keep the crew apart before the season begins

Every season begins with the crew arriving onboard the superyacht, one by one. The captain almost always waits for each crew member and Castillo shared how production gets each crew member to arrive alone.

Castillo said as the cast arrives on location, she was in charge of keeping them separated and sequestered.

“I’m in charge of sequestering the cast,” she said. “So when they first arrive on the island I will pick up each cast member one by one.” She added that production assistants will also help with retrieving cast members from the airport.

There’s a big emphasis on making sure none of the cast meets each other before they arrive on the boat. “I would say the beginning of filming is always my most stressful part because I can’t have them meet each other,” she said.

“So, I’ll put the boys in one hotel. I’ll put the girls in another hotel,” Castillo said. “And I try to get them rooms as far apart as possible. So I’ll go scout the location of the hotel and make sure that their rooms are far away from each other. And most of the time, when they’re newbies, they’re so excited that they don’t want to break any rules or sneak out or anything.”

When it came to someone like chief stew Kate Chastain, she was a little more lenient. “But with the OGs of Below Deck, I’ll take them to restaurants one by one. I don’t so much sequester them as much,” she said.

Production will also intervene if ‘Below Deck’ fights get too intense

Despite being tiny in stature, Castillo was also in charge of ensuring the crew’s safety when they would leave the yacht to go out to dinner and party at a nightclub. She also recalled being in the middle of a fight between chef Adam Glick and bosun Wes Walton on Below Deck Mediterranean Season 2.

Unbeknownst to production, Glick and deckhand Malia White met prior to arriving for the season. They started a boatmance, but she then fell for Walton. Angry and frustrated, Glick lashed out at Walton while they were out in Croatia and Castillo had to help shut down the fight.

“They’re fighting, and I have to go in between everybody because I’m really strict about the fourth wall,” she recalled. “If we’re out and about I don’t know you, I’m just here supervising. But, of course, there’s fights, then, of course, we intervene. Like, this isn’t what our show is about.”

‘Below Deck’ crew members have production with them on nights out

She also acknowledged that having the cast out on the town in foreign countries would not be safe without supervision. “When they go to a club I supervise the cast,” she recalled. “I make sure everybody’s OK. Like, say, for example, if cast members were at a nightclub. Like Saint Martin is gorgeous, but it’s also dangerous.”

“If a cast member is going by herself to the bathroom, we’re not going to send a camera to go follow her to the bathroom unless there’s another girl going with her,” she continued. “So what I’ll do is if nobody’s going to go with her, I’ll go with her to the bathroom. I’m not walking right beside her. I’m kind of, like, stalking her [laughs] just to make sure she’s safe. And then I have my walkie.”

Fired ‘Below Deck’ crew members get an escort to the airport

Castillo would also accompany a fired or departing crew member off the boat. “They’re usually relieved,” she said about crew members who were fired or quit. “So I’m there to receive their emotions and they’ll usually cry or want to go back.”

“I have to make sure that they get on their flight back home because we’re, in a sense, responsible for them,” Castillo said.

“There’s some people that just want to say no to the rules, because they’re yachties, so they’re used to doing whatever they want,” she said.

“They live such a free life,” she continued. “But when we’re filming a show, we care about your safety. So we don’t want you to go off to a nightclub by yourself on a dark day. Like if something happens to you, I’m going to feel responsible. There’s been times where I’ve literally gotten into arguments with cast members because I caught them sneaking out.”