Izzy Wouters, a new addition to the cast in season 8 of Bravo reality series Below Deck, has described the demanding casting process to get on the show.
This week, Below Deck – the series that follows the ups and downs of superyacht life for the crew on board – returned, with several new cast members in tow.
One of them was Izzy, who was born in New Zealand, raised in Australia and joined the ranks of the crew on My Seanna as a steward.
Although the members of the crew on Below Deck are trained in what they do, some people may assume that because it is a reality television show, the casting process isn’t too taxing.
However, this couldn’t be further than the truth, Izzy revealed in a new interview, explaining that the process took around five months in total before filming on season eight commenced.
‘They were very thorough. They want to make sure that you are actually qualified to work on a boat and that you’re a real yachtie and know what you’re doing,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
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‘Obviously there were background checks and psych evaluations and all that because you’re sticking a bunch of people on a boat so you want to make sure these people are sane.’
Izzy added that while the process was ‘thorough’ and ‘long’, it was ‘very much worth it’ in the end.
The steward also spoke about how Below Deck differs from other reality shows, as the members of the crew on the yacht are ‘just real normal people trying to make a living’.
‘It’s not like you’re these glamourised, fake people on this scripted show,’ she said.
‘Everything that happens on the show is real.’
Izzy added that ‘it’s not like we’re Instagram models or anything like that’, which is what made her interested in joining the cast.
Izzy’s co-star Eddie Lucas recently revealed to Metro.co.uk that season 8 of Below Deck was significantly impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.
He explained that at first, the crew didn’t fully comprehend the severity of the outbreak.
‘It’s definitely going to affect the season in a quite massive way,’ he said. ‘But at the same time when we started the show, I guess it was around February, we had heard about it.
‘But then we were out in the islands, on the yacht, working really hard and not being able to read the news, or really understand, or call home very often’.
