Luke Jones’ girlfriend claims the sexual misconduct event that resulted to his dismissal from Below Deck Down Under was only “acting.”
In this week’s episode of the reality show, bosun Luke was sacked after producers and crew members intervened after he walked nude into steward Margot Sisson’s bed.
He went off and locked himself in his own room after momentarily locking himself in her room despite numerous others encouraging him to go.
He was sacked the next day when captain Jason Chambers was informed of what had occurred.
While Luke has yet to officially address the issue, the lady thought to be his girlfriend has chastised a fan for questioning Luke’s behaviour.
Sharing a screenshot on social media of an interaction with fitness influencer Diana Maldonado, the fan captioned the Twitter post: ‘Y’all Luke’s girlfriend said he was “just acting” WHAT?!.’
In the message exchange, the fan got in contact with Diana, writing: ‘The fact you’re with this man shows you condone his behaviour.’
In response the influencer, who had shared a photo of her kissing the reality star, wrote that Luke was ‘just acting’, adding that Below Deck was ‘a TV show and not real life’.
The conversation ended with the fan concluding: ‘Acting!? He got into bed with a woman who was drunk.’
During the episode, the captain escorted Luke from his cabin on the night when the incident unfolded and sent him to a nearby hotel.
The next morning, Jason gathered the rest of the crew and told them he would be terminating the bosun’s employment because of his actions.
‘Our cabin is our safety zone. That door is our boundary. That door is not to be opened unless it’s consensual. To walk into someone’s room without consent, indecent, is my limit,’ he told them.
After arriving back and being fired, Luke said that he ‘don’t really know what happened’, which he said was ‘eating me up a little bit’.
The incident also contributed to the firing of another crew member, Laura Bileskalne, who had claimed Luke being let go was ‘unfair’ as his actions were ‘meant as a joke’.
‘I don’t think he meant anything bad. He wouldn’t rape you or anything,’ she told Margot.
‘He’s a sexual person, I’m a sexual person, you’re a sexual person. We’re joking. That thing was probably like, “Hahaha”, we’re all drunk.’
Laura’s unwelcome approaches towards Adam Kodra also played a role in her firing when she attempted to massage him in his bunk despite his request that she quit.
Laura apologised on Instagram after the scenes aired.
‘My sincere apologies to Adam, I did not realise I made him feel uncomfortable and no one should be put in that position,’ she wrote in a post.
‘And to Margot to not been able to empathise. I was 29 when the show was filmed, 30 was my life-changer. I am 31 now and I am watching it as all of you, an entertainment show.’
Since the episode has aired, both Adam and Laura have set their social media accounts to private.
Below Deck Down Under streams on in the US on Mondays, and on in the UK on the same day.
Victim Support
Victim Support offers support to survivors of rape and sexual abuse. You can contact them on 0333 300 6389.
Source My Celebrity Life.