João Franco Reacts to Ex Brooke Laughton's Engagement

After Brooke Laughton announced the news of her engagement on Wednesday, July 14, the Below Deck family sent all sorts of comments and congratulations to the former stew — including João Franco.

As fans of Below Deck Mediterranean will recall, João memorably found himself in a bit of a love triangle with Brooke and her fellow stew, Kasey Cohen, in Season 3. Romance ultimately bloomed between João and Brooke, who continued to explore a relationship after the charter season. However, the future looked uncertain for the pair during a tense reunion for Season 3, and they ultimately called it quits before João returned to the Below Deck Med crew as bosun in Season 4.

But these days, it looks like there are no hard feelings between João and Brooke. After Brooke shared a video of the moment her now-fiancé popped the question during their vacation in Portofino, Italy on July 14, João sent his congratulations to his ex in the comments section of the Instagram post. "So happy for you love!" he gushed, adding several red heart emojis. "All the best for you guys and your future."

Brooke showed her gratitude for João's kind words, replying, "Thank you so much!!" She also included two smiley face emojis and a red heart emoji.

Kasey was also among the Below Deck alums who shared her best wishes for the couple in the comments of Brooke's engagement announcement, which was posted on Brooke's 30th birthday. "CONGRATULATIONS BB!!! And a very happy birthday!" Kasey wrote. "So happy for you both!"

João notably began a new relationship with Michelle Dicu in 2018. The couple later got engaged in March 2020. João later announced in June of this year that he and Michelle had decided to end their engagement. 

"It feels so good to be back on track. As I am sure most of you have gathered, I am no longer engaged. I haven’t been for a long time and also haven’t felt the need to share it until I was ready. Firstly, I absolutely loved the bombshell of a lady I was with. She was nothing short of extraordinary and so crazy beautiful!!! She truly deserves the world," João wrote in a post on Instagram on June 9. "Through the hardships of COVID, career paths and distance we didn’t make it through. I truly wish we could have and will never regret nor forget the love we had for each other. It is sad to be strangers after being so close but, it is what it is, isn’t it? Happy is she and happy am I. That’s all that matters."

João also included the hashtags "#onwards," "#movingforward," "#noregrets," "#yachtlife," and "#lifesabeach" in the post.

After successfully passing his officer of the watch exam in April, João is currently working on a yacht in Spain. He recently noted on Instagram, "I know I am at the happiest point in my life because I haven’t, for a single second, thought about the things I don’t have and instead I’m just so grateful for all the things I do have!!"

As for Brooke, she is feeling "thirty, flirty, engaged and thriving" after such a momentous week. "What an overwhelming/wonderful 24 hours! Getting engaged in the most romantic little town imaginable and turning 30!" she gushed in a post on Instagram on July 15. "La vita è Bella [life is beautiful in Italian]."

Want more Below Deck Med? Season 6 airs Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo with early access to new episodes on Peacock.