Aesha Scott Reveals the "Biggest Challenge" of Elena and Bri's "Annoying Rivalry" (EXCLUSIVE)

Aesha Scott isn't happy about the personal drama heating up between Bri Muller and Elena "Ellie" Dubaich.

In a new preview for Season 9, Episode 6 of Below Deck Mediterranean — which airs Monday, July 8 — chief stew Aesha finally says her piece on the issues between her team members, Bri and Ellie. 

"Bri and Ellie just have this annoying rivalry that is circling around Joe [Bradley]," she explains, referring to both stews being interested in the deckhand. "You know, when people are emotionally distracted, it's not like you can discipline them out of their emotions."

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Prior to Aesha's statement, Ellie came to talk to her about the situation, alerting her that Bri has been sleeping on the floor of Joe and Nathan Gallagher's cabin.

"This Bri situation is getting out of control," Ellie declares. "She's sleeping on the freaking floor in the boys' cabin. She's telling me I'm belittling her."

"Are you?" asks Aesha, and Ellie says no.

When a guest comes into the room, Aesha quickly shuts down the conversation and notes that they need to put their game faces on. Work comes first ... but there's going to be plenty address after the charter.

Inside Elena Dubaich and Bri Muller's Season 9 Drama

In the preview clip, both Ellie and Bri discuss what's going on between them in separate confessional interviews. Bri thinks Ellie is on a "power trip" and is mad because she hooked up with Joe, while Ellie thinks Bri doesn't listen to her.

While drama was brewing as soon as it was revealed both women had a crush on Joe, things came to a head in Episode 5 after Bri and Joe kissed.

“You give zero f-cks about me. I would never break my friendship with you over a random f-cking guy," Ellie told her coworker after the incident. “It was a snake move.” Later, she added that the situation had “changed [their] relationship completely."

“The last thing I want to be called is a snake. I never do anything with malice," Bri responded.

Aesha Scott Explains Why She "Struggled" with the Stew Drama

Aesha Scott, Elena Dubaich, Bri Muller in their Below Deck Mediterranean Season 9 Press portraits. Photo: Bravo

During a May 2024 interview with The Daily Dish, Aesha dug deeper into the situation.

"I think where I did really struggle  — which you’ll see  — was managing stews, my girls’ emotions," she explained.  "The stuff that stays in the crew mess was really hard to deal with. That was my biggest challenge of the season."

While there were definitely some positives to her season, the coworker relations were tough.

"Things go up in terms of me managing the work and the guest experiences and provisions, in terms of the actual day-to-day running of the boat. In terms of the crew dynamic, I would say things still go downhill," she added. "It was more managing my staff and relationships and emotions that challenged me this season rather than the actual chief stew work."

After watching the preview above, see how the drama shakes out by tuning into Below Deck Mediterranean on Monday, July 8. Episodes air Mondays at 9/8c and are available to stream the next day on Peacock.

— Additional reporting by Abby Feiner