Below Deck Second Stew Fraser Olender went on Hannah Ferrier’s podcast, Dear Reality: You’re Effed, to discuss yachting, being on season 9, and his appearance on the British reality TV show Made in Chelsea.
He also buried the hatchet with the former Below Deck Mediterranean chief stew. They had Twitter spate over whether Fraser actually faked losing his radio on the show. (He didn’t, but the show’s editors’ didn’t explain how he had Jessica Albert’s radio at the time.)
Fraser Was On Reality TV With Friend Lucy Watson
While on Ferrier’s podcast, Olender further explained how he ended up getting on E4’s Made in Chelsea after reality TV star Lucy Watson insisted he be on the show with her.
“I had a lot of people be like, ‘Aww, you fame-hungry little [bleep]. Like what are you doing here… [But] one of my best friends, Lucy Watson, was on it. And she left the show, and they were begging her back, she was very big on it. She said, ‘I’m only going back if my actual, real close friends [are on the show]. And that’s how it happened,” Olender explained to Ferrier.
“It was a very quick stint, maybe five episodes. And I wasn’t used to the camera, so I was very awkward. It’s not something I’m very proud of, but nothing bad happened, it was fine.”
Olender dated his then-boyfriend Tom Couch, and the two both appeared on the show Made in Chelsea. Olender is also still close with Watson.
Hannah Explains Below Deck Versus Made In Chelsea
“But this is a whole new level, as you know Hannah. It’s amazing. [Below Deck is] a production beyond my comprehension and I’m so, so grateful to be part of such a cool family,” Fraser added about how being on Below Deck differed from filming Made In Chelsea.
Ferrier then explained how Below Deck is more real and not scripted like Made In Chelsea is.
“There are different stages of reality TV. Made in Chelsea, The Hills, is all structured. So they have storylines, they have story producers, they work in a sort of format and they kind of know what’s coming,” said Ferrier.
“Whereas, Below Deck, there is none of that. You can’t structure it, you can’t produce it, you can produce it to a certain extent, but you can’t produce storylines, it has to be organic. And that’s the beauty of it.”
Olender agreed that filming 24-hours every day while on My Seanna made for a much more intense experience than Made in Chelsea.
“It’s so unbelievably raw, and it captures you at the worst times. And at times you do not want to be a part of, but you have to go with it. That’s what makes it such a fantastic show, because you are trying to do a job. Your focus is not on the show.”
Olender went on to say while filming Made in Chelsea he would get a text from production telling him where the next scene would be shot. The other cast members who would be at the location would be a surprise and when they arrived producers would tell them what to talk about.
Chief Stew Fraser Dishes About Co-Star Jessica
Olender also let Ferrier know he’s been promoted to chief stew on the yacht he’s currently working on, only the third yacht he’s worked on.
He also discussed Below Deck season 9’s Third Stew Jessica Albert. He said he wished she had informed him while on the show she was dealing with family health issues. Instead, all he saw was someone who was working very slow and constantly complained about the yachting world, saying she didn’t want to be there.
If Olender had known her situation, he would’ve had more sympathy for her.
“I got very frustrated, and I was a bit bitchy about it,” said Olender in having to pick up Albert’s slack.
Listen to the full podcast with Hannah Ferrier to learn even more about Olender’s time on Below Deck season 9.
