EJ Jansen Never Expected Nico Scholly's Animosity

This charter season of Below Deck has been anything but smooth sailing for the crew of Valor. So EJ Jansen thought the boat's lead deckhand, Nico Scholly, would be thrilled to have another experienced crew member helping on the exterior. However, much to EJ's surprise, that was was far from what happened. On Tuesday night's episode of Bravo's podcast After Deck with Kate Chastain, EJ revealed he had not anticipated the power struggle with Nico and why he doesn't let it get under his skin. 

"I was obviously called there with an impression already in mind," EJ recalled. "So I came on board going, 'OK, holy sh--, what are we getting ourselves into?' And then get on board and it's just the, you know, immediate animosity kind-of-thing between me and the lead, Nico."

Kate asked him if he expected Nico's reaction. "No, I wasn't expecting that," EJ responded. "You know, I kind of thought like, 'Hey, there's an extra hand coming.' I'm not pushing him aside and taking him physically out of rank."

Coming aboard 30 minutes before the next charter, EJ actually hoped Nico would show him the ropes to make the transition into charter as seamless as possible. "He obviously knows the boat, and I know that he was there for the season prior," EJ explained. "So he's obviously well drilled on how the charters go on Valor, so if anything, you know, it should have been more of a teamwork thing, working together to get sh-- done."

When asked if it was hard for him to keep his cool through Nico's frequent undermining, EJ said "I look at it this way, if he was on my level and he had some valid points behind what he was saying, then I might act a little more offended or I may take it into consideration." EJ elaborated that he doesn't take Nico's insults to heart or take him very seriously, "It's like he's a little pup nibbling at my heals. You know, and he's just trying to piss me off, but I'm not going to stoop to that level." 

Although EJ took it all in stride, he remembers almost losing his cool with Nico on the back deck after one of his first nights out with the crew. "On the back deck, I was really, really close to really doing something I didn't want to do." 

Listen to EJ talk more about his Canadian rage during his "buddy boy" moment with Nico on the full episode of After Deck above. 

New episodes of Bravo’s After Deck with Kate Chastain are available Tuesday nights after episodes of Below Deck. Listen, like and subscribe to Bravo TV’s After Deck with Kate Chastain on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Stitcher and anywhere else you enjoy your favorite podcasts. Don’t forget to vote each week on a Yachtie and a Dinghy of the Week by tweeting @AfterDeckTweets and follow @AfterDeckInsta for news about upcoming episodes of After Deck.