8 Times Below Deck Mediterranean Season 9’s Ellie Dubaich Proved She’s This Season’s Villain

Summary

• Ellie’s portrayal on Below Deck Mediterranean season 9 as a know-it-all, arrogant, and villainous figure has been challenging for viewers and crew members to accept.
• Her inconsistent behavior, including flirting with Joe, treating Bri poorly, and defying Chief Stew Aesha Scott, has created tension within the crew.
• Ellie’s sense of seniority and desire to advance in the yacht industry have led her to take on a position of power over Bri, which may

Below Deck Mediterranean season 9’s Elena Dubaich has been working hard aboard Mustique, but with her consistently stringent hold over her fellow Stew Bri Muller, she’s proven to be the villain of the season. Elena, who goes by Ellie on Mustique, has been working in the yachting industry for years and is hoping that her time on the superyacht can help her move up to the next level of her career. Having appeared for a few episodes on Below Deck Mediterranean season 7, Ellie isn’t a stranger to the stress of working aboard the Bravo-sanctioned vessel.

Elena’s time aboard Mustique is the first long-term assignment she’s had as one of the Stews working beneath Captain Sandy Yawn. Doing her best to show up as a professional, Ellie has been taking her role as the Second Stew aboard Mustique seriously. She quickly realized that though she and Bri had similar levels of experience, she was much more advanced in how to properly navigate a superyacht. Taking Bri under her wing, she tried to ensure that she could advise the young Stew on how to approach her work and what to prioritize.

Ellie’s time aboard Mustique hasn’t been entirely professionally minded, however. During the first charter of the season, Ellie was assigned to tend to the guests during a late night when the rest of the crew aside from Deckhand Gael Cameron had gone to bed. The charter guests were looking for late night snacks, which they’d mentioned wanting on the preference sheet, but they wanted something more high-level than Ellie was able to handle. She chose to wake up Chef Johnathan Shillingford, from his bunk to ask for his help, but he refused.

While Ellie was simply looking for help from the Chef, she was shocked to find him not only refusing to help her out in the kitchen, but having spoken to Captain Sandy about it. Ellie was called out in front of the entire rest of the crew as the Captain shared her views about not waking up the Chef unless it was a complete emergency. Though Ellie wasn’t technically reprimanded, she felt uncomfortable with the fact that she’d been called out in front of everyone else, despite feeling she’d done the right thing in the moment.

Ellie’s personal life aboard Mustique has also been difficult. Coming into Below Deck Mediterranean season 8 single, Ellie was certain that she wouldn’t hook up with any of the crew members aboard the vessel. Knowing the dangers of boatmances, Ellie found herself attracted to Deckhand Joe Bradley, but Bri was also interested in the exterior team member. The pair have clashed over Bri’s choice to hookup with Joe, and have a difficult time coming back from their beef. As Below Deck Mediterranean season 9 progresses, Ellie’s become the show’s clear villain.

8 Ellie Feels A Sense Of Seniority With Minimal Experience

She’s Been In The Industry For Under 5 Years

While Ellie has more experience than some yachties coming into the Below Deck franchise, she is still somewhat inexperienced as a Stew. Ellie’s time aboard Mustique has been interesting, as she was quickly named Second Stew above Bri, but the women have a very similar level of experience working as yachties. While Ellie and Bri are on similar wavelengths, the Stews don’t have the same work ethic. Ellie has been able to push herself into another level of working as a Stew, making it clear that she has honed her craft well.

Throughout the charter, Ellie’s held a sense of seniority that doesn’t necessarily feel earned. The way she carries herself aboard Mustique is interesting, as she knows she’s a capable employee and chooses to flaunt that in front of people like Bri, who aren’t as skilled. She’s holding her own seniority over Bri’s heat when it likely shouldn’t be there to begin with.

7 Ellie Took Bri Under Her Wing For Selfish Reasons

She Wanted To Move Up

Early on in the charter season, Ellie was working hard to ensure that she would stand out on the interior team. She explained that after years of working aboard superyachts, she was looking forward to having some seniority on a vessel and wanted to prove that she could become a Cheif Stew in the future. Ellie chose to take Bri under her wing in the first days of the charter season, making it clear to the audience that it was because she wanted to advance, but not revealing that to Bri herself when she was offering her help.

Throughout the charter season, Elena has put herself in a position of power over Bri. Although she was clear that she needed to help Bri as a part of her position, she also did more than she was tasked to in her role. Ellie has put herself in a position of power in order to help herself advance, but made it seem like she was doing it out of the goodness of her heart.

6 Ellie Believes She Knows Everything When She Doesn’t

She’s A Know It All

Throughout Below Deck Mediterranean season 9, Ellie’s made it clear that even if she hasn’t been in the industry for long, she knows more than most of the other crew members aboard Mustique. Elena’s behavior has been odd for someone in her role, as she’s not the Chief Stew of the Mustique and hasn’t been in the industry for long. She’s been acting like she knows everything, and after being reprimanded in the beginning of the charter season by the Captain, she shouldn’t be quite so confident.

Ellie’s attitude has been difficult to stomach, as moving through the charter season she’s often come off as arrogant. Her know-it-all attitude hasn’t been pleasant for the rest of the crew to adjust to, and the charter guests have taken note of Ellie during the most recent charters for being somewhat arrogant. Her behavior has been tough for everyone other than her.

5 Ellie Felt Possessive Over Deckhand Joe Bradley

She Didn’t Have Dibs

Early in the charter, Ellie and Bri discussed the idea of boatmances with each other, but Ellie wasn’t sure that she would find herself interested in anyone else on the superyacht. Ellie’s feelings on boatmances were interesting, as she seemed to be attracted to some of the other crew members on Mustique, but shared that she wouldn’t want to mix business and pleasure in that way. Instead, she let Bri know that she wouldn’t put her work over a guy on the boat, even though she flirted with Deckhand Joe any chance she could.

When Ellie and Bri began to get flirty on a crew night out, she was excited at the prospect of having someone to mess around with. Though she wasn’t sure what she wanted out of the relationship, she liked that Joe was interested in her. She made it clear to him that she wanted something more.

4 Ellie Wasn’t Clear About Her Feelings To Bri

She Tried To Be Aloof

During her time on Mustique, Ellie has felt she’s been communicating clearly to Bri and everyone else what she wants and needs. Though her feelings toward Joe seemed to be clear to her and the Deckhand himself, Ellie’s feelings about the exterior crew member weren’t made clear to Bri. The pair had talked about boatmances, but Ellie hadn’t said that she was attracted to Joe or that she wanted anything moving forward, she’d simply said that she didn’t want to put a guy above her work.

During a crew night out, Ellie shared that she was excited to be flirting openly with Joe. The pair danced together and seemed to be enjoying each other, but Ellie didn’t notice that Bri was jealous while she was sitting on the sidelines. Bri shared with another crew member that she wasn’t happy about Ellie and Joe’s flirting, because she wanted Joe for herself.

3 Ellie Thinks She’s Separated Her Personal And Professional Relationships

She’s Mixing Business With Pleasure

While Ellie has been clear that she doesn’t want to mix business with pleasure, her actions don’t match her words. She’s been consistently flirting with Joe to a point that it’s clear if something were to happen between them, she’d be okay with it. Rather than acknowledging that she’d be okay getting into a boatmance, Ellie has been vehemently against the idea of getting involved with someone, but it’s obvious that she’d change her tune if she were actually going to try something with Joe.

Because of her attitude, Ellie has been giving off mixed signals to the rest of the crew. Instead of just saying that she was interested in Joe, Ellie told Bri that she wouldn’t want to go there. This created a disconnect for the pair, which made it confusing for Bri when she realized that Ellie was going for Joe.

2 Ellie’s Treating Bri Poorly After Saying She Wouldn’t

She Trashed Her To Other Crew Members

After Bri and Joe’s hookup went public, Ellie struggled to understand how to move forward with Joe or Bri. She shared that she was upset about Bri being unclear, as Bri had said she explicitly wasn’t interested in Joe, which is why Elena decided she wanted to go for Joe. Elena shared that she was having a difficult time processing the fact that Bri had broken girl code so deliberately, and she didn’t know how to proceed forward with a personal relationship with Bri.

While she wasn’t sure how to proceed with a personal friendship, she told Bri that she wasn’t going to let that impact their professional relationship. Instead, Ellie struggled to be calm with Bri as they moved through the following day. She snapped at Bri for even the smallest things, trying to exert her seniority in moments when it wasn’t necessary.

1 Ellie’s Being A Disobedient Second Stew

She’s Defying Chief Stew Aesha Scott

In the final moments of the latest episode of Below Deck Mediterranean season 9, Ellie was defiant toward Aesha during a pivotal moment of the evening with the charter guests aboard Mustique. The guests, who all had modeling experience, wanted the crew mates to put on a fashion show for them, and Ellie wanted to dress to impress. When she was taking too long, Aesha called on the radio to see where she was.

Ellie ignored the radio calls several times before finally getting in touch with Aesha and letting her know she’d be a few more minutes. Annoyed, Aesha told her not to bother as they were late for the guests and didn’t want to keep them waiting any longer. Ellie ignored Aesha’s request and showed up 20 minutes late, annoying the Below Deck Mediterranean Chief Stew.

Source: Below Deck/Instagram