Malia White Reveals ‘Below Deck’ Was the First Time She Worked on a Yacht – Now She’s a Captain
Malia White never worked on a yacht before Below Deck – and now she’s looking at earning her superyacht captain’s license. White revealed that she applied to be on a bunch of reality television shows after she graduated from college, Below Deck Mediterranean was on the list. So when producers called her to be on the show, she started Googling yacht terms – because she had never worked on a yacht before.
‘Below Deck’ was Malia White’s first yacht experience
White laughed about how green she was when she joined the show. She finished college, did a little exploring, and had a desk job when Below Deck producers called. “It didn’t work out the first season, but the second season the rest is history,” she explained on the Hollywood Raw podcast.
She recounted the process as being a series of interviews so producers can determine the potential cast member’s personality. “They called me and were like hey we put you through again and you’ve actually made it,” she said. “If you wanna go you gotta like pack your bags and leave in like a week. Below Deck was my very first yacht that I worked on. And I worked on dive boats, but it’s not comparable at all. So I remember like the day before like the week before, I was like Googling like ‘what is the bow?’ and ‘the stern?'”
She admits she ‘winged it’ during ‘Below Deck Med’ Season 2
White came in as a third deckhand on Below Deck Med Season 2. While she was super green, she ended up becoming the lead deckhand toward the end of the season – a decision made by bosun Wesley Walton that ended up being a little controversial since he and White had a boatmance at the time.
“I was Googling yacht terms,” she adittted before she arrived on set. “I just kinda winged it.” While she “winged it” she did have to take a certification course all yachties need. “They did have to send me to get my STCW which is like your saftey training,” she shared. “Which is like a five day course. Everyone that works on these yachts has to have it. But that was it.” White ended up meeting chef Adam Glick at the training course. The two had a romantic connection but decided to keep their affections secret from producers. Trouble occurred when Walton turned White’s head and Glick got angry.
Captain Malia is upgrading her license
White said joining the show completely changed her life. “Then I decided to get into yachting,” she recalled. In addition to Walton, Captain Sandy Yawn took notice of White’s ambition and talents. “I hold a captain’s license,” she revealed. “But I’m upgrading. Crazy how much this show has changed my life, kinda my career trajectory.”
“I was working a normal desk job in Colorado, she recalled. “Now I’m trying to be a captain on a superyacht. It’s crazy.” Is there a future for White to end up being a superyacht captain on her own show?
“Hopefully, yeah there could be,” she laughed about the notion of being the superyacht captain on TV. “I have to get my upgrade on my license. But definitely yeah!” She laughed, “Captain Malia.” She’d definitey have one person lining up to work for her already. Chef Mathew Shea shared that he would be happy to work for “Captain Malia” if she ever took the helm on the show.
