Below Deck: We need to talk about Ashton Pienaar’s behavior

This week’s Below Deck was explosive and scary, but somehow Kate is always the one being blamed for the issues at hand. This was clearly Ashton’s fault.

This week’s episode of Below Deck was honestly pretty disturbing.  Knowing what we know now and seeing Ashton Pienaar’s behavior after the show was finished filming really makes me question casting sometimes.   After the last few weeks, Kate Chastain has definitely been treated poorly by the crew – especially the men on the crew.  But last night crossed so many lines.  Ashton came up from behind Kate in the van and tried to force her to kiss him, which Kate rejected.  This set off some major aggressive behavior, including punching the windows, trying to climb in the back seat with Kate, and screaming in her face for no reason.

Though Captain Lee has been showing his support of Kate both on and off the show, Ashton and the other boys have not.  If anything, they’ve been pretty awful to her.  On the Bravo After Show, the boys explained that they were discussing Tanner’s mom, and Kate asked about Ashton’s mom.  That almost immediately sent into a rage.  All of the men on the cast excuse Ashton’s behavior, but there should be no excusing it.

Ashton has been on the After Show, tweeting up a storm, on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen, he’s been posting photos of his butt on Instagram with insightful captions, and not once did he apologize for his behavior until last night.  Now he’s on a full apology tour because the viewers did not appreciate how he treated Kate.  I think if Ashton actually cared and was actually sorry about his behavior, he would have proactively apologized and said something.  I understand he can’t give details contractually, but he and the other guys on the show have continued to blame Kate for all of the issues on the boat since filming wrapped.

Kate has turned down Ashton multiple times during this season, and his reaction in the van makes me think this isn’t about his mom – but it is about Kate and rejection.  Combined with alcohol and Ashton blaming his actions on his drunk alter ego and we have a huge mess of a situation.  And, Ashton continued to scream in Kate’s face after the crew got home for the night just to prove he was right.

Meanwhile, Ashton has taken to his Instagram stories to apologize for trying to kiss Kate.  Instagram stories disappear after 24 hours and are not permanent, which makes me think he’s only apologizing for all of the hate he’s getting now that the show has aired.

Below Deck is on Bravo every Monday at 9 PM ET.