Malia White made history as the first female bosun on the Below Deck franchise. She hadn't
worked on yachts prior to boarding the Sirocco as a deckhand for season 2 of Below Deck Mediterranean,
but she used the time since then to work her way up in the intensely competitive industry.
According to an interview with Vulture, it was leading lady Captain Sandy Yawn who inspired
Malia to follow her dreams. And now, as she returns to the Below Deck fold aboard season
5's Wellington, the bosun feels like she's exactly where she should be. Speaking about
her aquatic ambitions, she said,
"I've always been drawn to work on the water, and I think after that first season, I was
like, 'Okay, this is a career change and I'm just going to go for it.' I haven't looked
back since."
Her comeback sparked major discussions within the franchise's fandom, which is par for the
course for any repeat star on the popular show.
Malia was eager to return to Below Deck Med for two main reasons; to work under Captain
Sandy again, and to show off everything she's learned in the intervening years.
"Malia! My favorite bosun." "Hey, Captain Sandy!" "Welcome to Spain." "Welcome to the
bow."
As Malia explained to Vulture,
"Ever since [season two], I've continued my career. I've gotten my 200-ton captain's license,
and I've been an engineer. I've constantly stayed on yachts as deckhand and then worked
my way up to bosun. Then I also got my PADI scuba instructor certificate, so I can teach
scuba diving."
It's been a long road, but Malia is passionate about a career on the water.
She's already proven her chops as a rescue diver, too, jumping into the ocean to assist
a guest in difficulty during a season 5 episode.
"Malia is such a badass. She's f---ing awesome.”
Her drama with Chef Adam Glick, with whom she previously had had a brief and rocky relationship,
is far behind her, too. Malia is now happily settled down with Chef Tom Checketts, who
is also the new chef on Below Deck: Med. Although she's looking to put past issues
behind her, Malia came under fire for making a lengthy pronouncement on Instagram after
castmate Hannah Ferrier was caught with Valium on the boat.
In a since-deleted Instagram post, Malia defended her actions on an episode of the show during
which it was implied she told on Ferrier. She argued in the post,
"Reporting any incident especially one we witness is all of our job. Yachting is my
career I'm not here to worry about plot twists & TV drama I'm here to do my job and learn
how to become a Captain."
While some fans believe Malia is in cahoots with Captain Sandy to get Ferrier kicked off
the yacht, Malia insists that things are great between the three women. Speaking to Vulture,
she said,
"In a way, I felt even more confident, because I know Hannah, I know captain Sandy, so I
expected the level of support I would get. I was very excited to have us three come together
and show people that women can have these leadership roles and they can do it together."
Fans who watched Malia on Season 2 of Below Deck Med will remember that she ended up falling
for bosun Wes Walton. The pair dated for a while after the charter season ended, but
the relationship ultimately did not work out.
While the romance wasn't meant to be, at least Malia got a good friendship out of it. She
told Bravo's Daily Dish in early 2020 that she and Wes still keep in touch. She shared,
"He has had some amazing yachting experiences recently. He's been traveling all over the
world. We're still good friends. He keeps me updated with his travels, and I tell him
about mine."
Wes apparently even gets along with Malia's current boyfriend, Tom Checketts. As Malia
recalled,
"Him and my boyfriend actually hung out in New Zealand, but I wasn't there, which is
funny. Small world, yachting is."
Malia may have broken ground as the Below Deck franchise's first female bosun, but the
journey hasn't always been an easy one for her. As she told Refinery29, from her perspective,
misogyny remains rampant in the yachting industry. As she puts it,
"Everyone comes from such different backgrounds, culturally, so there's such a huge learning
curve on boats anyways. And then you mix up genders and different gender roles and leadership
roles and it gets even more interesting."
The impact she's made as Below Deck's first female bosun isn't lost on her, and she hopes
that it's part of a bigger change. She said,
"I think it's something that people are ready to see and I think that it's a good representation
of where the industry is going because a lot more females are starting to step up everywhere,
hopefully."
"Girl can hope."
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