The only thing screwing this yacht crew are the producers

It’s hard to sum up what makes the Below Deck franchise the perfect reality television experience. It has everything you could ask for; romance, humour and a whole lot of salty drama when things go astern.

Each season of Below Deck features an upstairs-downstairs situation on a superyacht. We get a glimpse into the lives of the super-rich on vacation who reinforce every stereotype imaginable (and occasionally subvert our expectations, entirely.) But the main cast of the show is, of course, the young itinerant workers who have to cater to their elite guests' every whim.

But no season would be the same without the interpersonal drama borne out of the work hierarchies and risky boatmances that inevitably crash in dramatic fashion.

You soon learn that “don’t screw the crew” is an integral part of the yachtie philosophy for a reason.

In Below Deck: Mediterranean, Captain Sandra “Sandy” Yawn is the oft-polarising but fearless leader responsible for doling out punishment, bringing out the best in the crew and, don’t forget, steering a 150ft superyacht into port without any scratches.

Foodies get their fix as well. You’ll either marvel at the Charter Chef’s incredible creations (prepared solo and, at times, without all the accoutrements a full kitchen provides) or revel in an ineffective chef’s defeats. More often than not the chefs boil over and become the closest thing to the villain of the season.

Of course, reality TV doesn’t get made without producers carefully doing what they do best– producing moments of chaos that will have you rubbing your hands with schadenfreude-laced glee.

I like to conduct armchair analysis and theorise which mechanical faults are real and which are down to the deft hands of a clever producer.

In this season alone, the producers have seemingly managed to cast someone as the Bosun (the ship’s officer responsible for equipment and crew) without checking to see if he had legitimate qualifications. I don't buy it.

The reveal was heartbreaking, but at the end of the day, I sincerely believe the would-be Bosun, Ruan, was only there because someone behind the scenes thought it would stir up the most drama in Episode One. Knocking out crew members and making more work for everyone else is a surefire way to stoke tensions.

After Captain Sandy confronted him, poor Ruan made his hasty exit back to South Africa where he hopefully found a way to verify his accreditations.

Best of all Below Deck: Mediterranean is just one successful spinoff of many. There’s a whole franchise of chaos just waiting for you to dive right in, available on Binge, Foxtel Now and Hayu in Australia.