‘Below Deck Med’: David Pascoe Talks Malia, Maureen The Magical Unicorn, and That Major Fart

Watch out for David Pascoe. So far the deckhand has proved he’s a dependable member of the deck team with a crush creeping up on his boss, bosun Malia White. But as this season of Below Deck Mediterranean progresses, viewers may find themselves with their own crush on David. You’ve been warned!

I caught up with David recently while he was on a boat in Italy, preparing to journey to France via train the next day. But before he found himself on another adventure, we discussed the one we’re all currently watching him on Monday nights on Bravo (and Peacock!). Here, David talks about the joy he got from his fellow deckhands, how he ended up killing lobsters in the galley, and what it’s been like watching himself have a crush on his boss.

Decider: How did you come up with the name Maureen for the unicorn float, and did she behave for the rest of the season? 

David Pascoe: You could come up with a name like Sparkles or something like that, but in my mind, I was just thinking of a really interesting [older] name. I don’t know why, but it was Maureen. I think Maureen and the slide have a lot in common, they’re just not easy to work with [laughs]. Great fun, but a lot of work.

Let’s go back a little bit to the first episode. How was that experience of getting thrown into the galley for you, was it exciting or super stressful? 

Obviously, I’m not there to be in the galley at all, and I’m not even sure how that came about. But I think it came down to the fact that no one else was willing to kill a lobster and I was like right, I’ll step up, let’s have at it. So yeah, it’s not my usual place. I’ve spent a lot of time in galleys on boats, but it’s helping the chef do the dishes or pots and things like that. It’s not prep, by any stretch of the imagination. But if no one’s willing to do it, then I’m going to be the best person at it because I’m the only one doing it.

Tell me about your fellow deckhands, you seem to be having a lot of fun. Did you like working with Zee, what should we know about him?

Zee is just incredible. The beauty of Zee is that he comes in and he admits he’s green and he just wants to learn. He’s so willing to learn because he’s a very, very smart guy, so you show him something, and he does it. He’s just so charismatic and wonderful. If he made a mistake, he owned up to them and was like, I’ve made a mistake. That’s fine. If he did something well, it was fireworks, happiness, joy. It was nice because I’ve been in yachting for quite a few years now, and I’ve seen a lot of people who don’t know and just aren’t willing to learn. And then you’ve got someone like Zee who just took it all and did so well and it’s just his character and everything that is wonderful.

How about Lloyd?

I don’t like to overuse the word “character”, but Lloyd is just hilarious. He is so funny and he’s a proper pick-me-up kind of person. Whether you’re having a rough day or whatever, Lloyd is that kind of character that’s gonna bring you up every time. We’re all very different people, all from very different backgrounds, but we came together just perfectly and it was so nice to be a part of.

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Courtney said that you all got very close. Did you feel that way? Did you feel like you got to know the interior girls as well?

Yeah, and crew dynamics can be a mixed bag. But I was honestly counting my blessings with the crew we got because I was nervous about everything. Then everyone did come together so beautifully and it made the difficult times easier and it made the easy times brilliant.

How Malia was as a boss. Did you like having her as a bosun?

Yeah, Malia is great. She’s to the point, she has a laugh, and she’s one of the team which is nice. She’s not standing on pedestals and she’s not trying to say, ‘I’m your boss’. She has never stated that. She just got involved and says what she needs to say when she needs to say. So it was super fair and she was just part of the team. There was no divide between any of us, which was refreshing.

You’ve been very open about your crush on her, but how has it been for you to watch it all play out on TV?

It’s honestly strange to watch it, because at the time you’re just living it, but to actually watch it? It’s strange [laughs]. We shall see.

Something I was wondering, when does the crew start to follow each other on social media? Did you become Instagram friends on the first day? How does that work?

It definitely wasn’t the first day because everyone’s trying to get to know each other as human beings before anything else. It was after one of the first nights out, honestly, when everyone’s together, because obviously, everyone divides off when we’re working. But after that first night, everyone’s together. So it’s a bit like, what’s your Instagram? And then, of course, one becomes two becomes three becomes everyone.

Did you interact with Captain Sandy much, was she supportive of you? Do you get to drive the boat at any point?

Captain Sandy was great. She’s a strong character, she has to be as a captain. Sandy is the first female captain I’ve ever worked for, so that was interesting, but she was brilliant. I did get some drive time, which was really good. It was so busy that the interactions we have, I think it’s one of those where almost the fewer interactions you have, the better because it means you’re just getting up and doing what you should be doing.

Does she give you the ‘if I think about you when I wake up you’re in trouble speech’?

I haven’t. I haven’t had that no [laughs].

When I talked to her a couple of weeks ago, she said she was very excited to see what happens with that Lazy Susan in the crew mess, from the brief glimpse in the trailer. Did you get on that? How was your experience with that?

Well, I went from upright to upside-down within about 0.3 of a second so I’d say it was an interesting experience, maybe not a good one [laughs]. The world is spinning and now the world is upside down.

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What was the wedding in Episode 3 like for you? 

It was interesting, I’ve never seen a wedding performed on a boat, so that was a new experience. But with the dramas the night before, which I only heard kind of whispers down the line, it was a bit of an odd one. And it was cold, the wind was blowing, but as long as they’re happy, that’s the main thing.

In the last episode, you talked a little bit about an ex-girlfriend from a previous boat that cheated on you which, shame on her. Have you heard from her yet? Has she seen the episode? Do you know if she is aware that you talked about that?

Oh, I have had no contact for a long time. So just letting bygones be bygones and whatever happened.

What was it like being Chef Mat’s roommate?

Mat’s brilliant. Chefs are individuals in their own way, every chef is different, especially superyacht chefs. Pretty much every chef that I worked with has been brilliant, I’ve been quite lucky on that front, and Mat is very unreservedly himself. He’s not everyone’s favorite if they meet him, but once you kind of get to know him, he’s a wonderful human being. It just takes a little bit of time to gauge out what he’s about. And maybe not always take what he says too seriously, because it just goes brain, mouth, out [laughs].

I have to ask you about another major moment that happens in Episode 3, when you are in your room with Mat. I don’t know if it was something you had eaten or what happened…

It was Matt [laughs]. As soon as this goes out, this is going straight to an Instagram poll, and the public can decide because that wasn’t me, that was definitely Matt. But it’s been put on me because I’ve obviously been asleep and I’ve moved ever so slightly and they’re like, ah, it’s Dave. It fucking wasn’t me. I’ve been set up for the fall!

I’m glad you set the record straight. I’m surprised we don’t see more farts on the show because you’re living and working together all the time and this is your life. 

It’s exactly that, we’re human beings. We don’t just walk around like cyborgs, not eating, not toileting, not doing anything. These things do happen. And people are like, ‘Oh, it’s so terrible’. Come on. But it was Matt [laughs].

What else are you excited for us to see this season?

The thing I’m most excited about is to see the real genuine unity on deck. I’ve worked with some incredible characters this season, like really genuinely good people to their core. And no one’s perfect, everyone has their flaws, everyone makes mistakes, but genuinely, quite happily I’ll say it, some of the best people I’ve ever worked with in this industry to date. So I think it’s definitely something that people can get behind, to see a bit of goodness in the world, because obviously, it’s been a pretty shit year.

Everyone seems great so far, but were you worried somebody would turn out to be a monster? 

The main thing, and it’s rife in superyachts, is egos. Once someone brings ego into the equation, it’s a downfall because it starts separating the crew, it starts causing so many problems. I realized that Lloyd, Zee, and Malia, they weren’t driven by ego. Everyone was there to do a job and the dynamic of everyone just pulled in so beautifully, so it worked.

Below Deck Mediterranean airs Monday at 9 pm ET/PT on Bravo, with episodes streaming one week early on Peacock.

Stream Below Deck Mediterranean on Bravo Now and Peacock