‘Below Deck Mediterranean’: João Franco Reveals He Quit His Job To Work On His Current Relationship with Brooke

If you didn’t love João Franco during the first half of Below Deck Mediterranean season 3, that’s all about to change. The Zimbabwe native (has he mentioned that’s where he’s from?) has found himself in a love triangle with Kasey and Brooke, butting heads with Conrad the #BabyfaceBosun, and utterly unafraid to call Hannah out for being fake on more than one occasion.

But a recent conversation with Brooke revealed some super insightful facts about his past, including a tough but unique childhood and the traumatic experience of watching his mother get beaten up while he was held at gunpoint. João’s also given more details about providing for his family on his Instagram stories, and it all starts to put his work ethic, his attitude, and his drunken alter ego Jezabob into perspective.

If you were skeptical when Brooke claimed he was a gentleman, spending just a few minutes with him these days will prove she knew what she was talking about — and for good reason. When João stopped by the Decider offices, he explained how the two are still trying their best to make their relationship work (!), why his frustrations weren’t about Conrad’s age, and why he’s confident in declaring, “Jezabob is gone.”

We have learned a lot about you recently, but how much did you expect to share about your life when you started the show?

I didn’t expect to share anything to be honest. I’ve been really contained. A lot of people from home know most of what I’ve been through and accept who I am because of it. It was quite an experience to open up, and ever since I’ve opened up, I think a lot of feelings have risen. All the stuff I contained I felt that I needed to contain, but it’s come to me that I don’t actually have to and I have to let it out a bit. It’s been quite an experience.

Has it been a positive reaction?

It has been. I think this hard shell was how I was supposed to be; living in a tough country, living under tough circumstances, I thought that was the person I was supposed to be. A lot of people have been like, “Dude, what you’ve been through isn’t right.” I always think so many people have been through worse; I’ve got two hands, two legs, two eyes, I have to be grateful for everything I’ve got. So for me, it was never a point of sharing, it was just trying to be this hard shell. Everyone at home knows how positive I am. I like to be positive, and for the first time it’s a break down, it’s that I need someone else to be positive for me as well.

Did you share this kind of information with other people on other boats you’ve worked on or was it this particular audience in Brooke that made you feel comfortable? 

Particular audience possibly, yes. With the boats I’ve been on, I’ve more or less joked about it but it was never a serious thing. I told someone I shot myself through my hand and they were like, “Really? That’s dumb,” and I was like, “Yeah I know.” It was never into detail as to what actually happened. I’ve never spoken about my mom being beaten up, I’ve never spoken about my stepdad passing away. That kind of stuff I’ve held in because of trying to be the positive one for my mom and stepsister and my brother. I have been since I was 20 years old, I’ve had to be the breadwinner of our family and at that time I had no room to be sensitive about it. It’s been positive, I’ve learned a lot about myself and how I need to change.

You’ve said that you’ve regretted some of your behavior on the show, has there been anything in particular?

Definitely. First off, I think not realizing how the show would highlight just the tip of the iceberg, for example. There is no depth of where the story comes from. When I am at my absolute worst, no one can see where it stemmed from. So for me, the hardest part was to see my absolute worst, because I’ve never seen it before. A lot of people accepted it because of the good person I could be, the person I have been for them. Seeing what I’ve seen, it’s just mad. It’s been an eye-opener and I definitely regret most of my bad actions. There is an opinion I’ve formed of people or of certain situations, and I won’t change most of them, but my reaction and how I portray myself, that was wrong. I have learned a lot from them.

Let’s talk about Conrad a little bit. How do you feel when you look back on working with him? 

At the start of the show we are told to speak our minds, that’s a big thing for us, and I took it quite literally. Everything that came to mind I said. Although I do regret most of my actions, I was still being as real as I possibly could be. When it comes to Conrad and my issues, again it stemmed from somewhere. There were a couple of nitty-gritty bits that started somewhere and I let it go and I let it go and eventually…

I also like explaining things. For example, if I am explaining how the chain goes out with the anchor or whatever it is, I enjoy it and I like to help and I like to express myself. He takes it in a way of undermining him and I understand that now. Conrad acknowledged a lot of my work and said, “I’m glad you put the initiative in it,” and I was happy about that. Sometimes he did not. And this was what got to me, like, are you going to take my advice sometimes or are you going to not listen at all, and what do you want from me?

It got to that point where I try to help him out, I try to help him out again, I understand the leadership role. But he didn’t want to accept what I was saying and I feel, as Sandy says, “As long as it’s done, it’s done.” But unfortunately for me during the show, there is a better way to do it. It got frustrating, but I was just speaking my mind.

It’s been an eye-opener in terms of what I could possibly manage. Since leaving the boat, I have been a bosun on a much bigger boat with a lot more crew and we work together. Someone suggests something, I’m willing to give it a try because I need to learn as well. I think that’s one aspect that Conrad didn’t grasp, and it is because of experience. It was never about his age, it was about a maturity level. Him being stern and saying, “I don’t want to listen to you,” I was like “Okay, well you’ve also got a lot to learn.”

Speaking of maturity levels, did you at all try to be friends with Hannah, just to smooth things over for Brooke’s sake?

No. From the very start when I joined the show, I didn’t watch any episodes before. Not a single one. I wanted to start fresh, I wanted my own opinion of everyone. I saw within the first three or four days, people had their own opinions of Hannah based on what she was like before. So they were quite intimidated by her and held back. My opinion of it was that I wanted to figure her out as a person, and within the first few days I believe my opinion was there. And it was really hard to break because none of us were going to break down. During the work, we worked well. Nothing stopped us from doing our work properly. During our outside time, it was really different.

When she doesn’t say your name correctly, does that annoy you?

For me it’s just a lack of respect, maybe. If she doesn’t want to say my name properly, she makes it a point and good for her. If that’s what makes her happy, if that’s what floats her boat, then fine.

Speaking of other names, you get a new name in tonight’s episode, after Val Kilmer’s Iceman. Had you seen Top Gun, did you know about that?

Yes, I’ve been called Ice once before, and there was a part which they didn’t show, where they sang “Ice Ice Baby” the whole time and I didn’t know the words. I was like, “Uh uh yes that word, uh Vanilla,” and they were like, “You don’t know the words?” It was a compliment, I’ll take it.

It comes across on the show that you might be one of Sandy’s favorites. Do you think so?

Yes, I think in life, no matter what, you have to work a system — whatever gets you to the top, you need to understand and you need to work it. For me, my conflict with Conrad got to a point where I wasn’t being heard, so I back off from Conrad. If Captain Sandy sees that I’m working well, because I would like to say that I do work well, that’s all that matters to me.

I feel both Conrad and Hannah tried to make the boat their own and that’s what got to me. When Hannah tried to explain to Kasey that, “I’ll fire you if you can’t do your job right,” I needed to boost her and say, “You’re not going to get fired from Hannah.” She didn’t understand how yachting works. If Captain Sandy has a problem with Hannah or Kasey or anyone, it is up to Captain Sandy to fire them.

I’ve followed the motto since I joined yachting: work like the captain is watching you. They will show parts where Captain Sandy is watching Hannah and Conrad because she sees something wrong in it. But she is watching all of us, all the time. There were times when I was cleaning the teak floor and the automatic sliding door would open and she is standing there looking. I don’t care what people say, as long as I am doing my job right, it doesn’t matter.

How are things with you and Kasey now and do you see where you were misleading?

Absolutely. Jezabob took me on a path I didn’t even know of until I watched the episodes, and I joke about it but it really wasn’t right. When I went on the show, I knew I didn’t want to be with anyone, to be honest. It wasn’t what I wanted. I had been in yachting for a year and a half and I hadn’t been with anyone for close to two years at all. I see now how insecure I was, I see how my jokes aren’t taken as lightly as I thought they were, and it was a part of my character that I needed to adjust. And I have, definitely.

Things seem to be very good with you and Brooke and this relationship has lasted!

Yes, well it’s been quite a tough road. As soon as I got off the show with Brooke, we went to Florence and it was amazing. She is an amazing girl, but it was tough because we had a couple of weeks apart. What upsets me the most about what people think she is like, she is the most independent girl I have ever met in my life and she doesn’t want to be with anyone. I have to make the effort to be there.

So going to Zimbabwe, I had parts of my character that weren’t right, and I understand that now more so than I ever have. It was difficult for her but she still stuck there and I really appreciate that about her. I met her family over Christmas and there was still a bit of tension between us, we weren’t sure of each other. Both of us have insecurities but we were very shelled and guarded and we didn’t know what to do. It took a couple of months after that still and we eventually broke, both of us broke; we got together in a way that was indescribable. We worked it out. We did all of our interviews together in Los Angeles and we were there for each other throughout.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BlVSN_bB2aw/?hl=en&taken-by=joaograntfranco

I think the biggest mistake we made is that we tried to find work together, which we had a few times, but the jobs just weren’t right for us. It happened that she got a job separately, hoping that I would get on the boat eventually, and I got a job separately, hoping that she would as well. We would understand the boats and then if one position comes up, we are working and at least we can be together as soon as something came up. It was supposed to be for a month and a month turned to two and two turned to three and she closed up. And again, she is such an independent girl and it’s very difficult because I remember the last day we were together and hold on to that, and she remembers the first three months and holds on to that.

So eventually I said to her, “What will it take?” and she said, “You need to be here” and so I left, I left my job. I left Europe and I got to Fort Lauderdale and she is like, “We probably should have spoken about this first.” She was just closed up but she has opened up. I think what we need to do is just let the show take its toll because every week she goes back to square one and we see a lot of negative in both sides. But at the end of the day, she knows who I am now and that’s what matters. So let the show blow over and then see what happens from there. 

Well things seem to be pretty good for now. 

She has changed my life and there is no doubt about it. It’s one thing to say we met on a show and I thought a lot of people would think we are together because of the show, but it really is not like that.

And I have to ask: is Jezabob behaving himself?

Jezabob has not been out since the show. I’ve almost completely stopped drinking. I think with the pressure of the show, I brought that out once and then I felt like that was a part of my character that I needed to keep going on. Before the show, maybe I did it once a year with my closest friends, so it wasn’t millions of people watching me be a complete ass. And for me seeing it as well, I know I didn’t do it often, but seeing it means that I don’t do it at all now. It’s just not a part of me that I like. Jezabob is gone!

Below Deck Mediterranean airs Tuesdays at 9pm ET/PT on Bravo. 

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