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The Daily Dish Below Deck

Rachel Hargrove Says She "Almost Tossed the Table" When the Crew Ate Elizabeth Frankini's Birthday Cake

Here's how Elizabeth Frankini reacted when she found out about her Below Deck birthday surprise.

By Laura Rosenfeld

Cakes are often at the center of drama on Below Deck. Need we remind you of the memorable confection Chef Kevin Dobson concocted for the charter guests in Season 7? However, the ill-timed birthday surprise for Elizabeth Frankini in the Below Deck Season 8 finale really takes, well, the cake.

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Rachel Hargrove and Izzy Wouters wanted to make up for Elizabeth's not-so-great 30th birthday earlier this season of Below Deck, so the chef arranged for a cake to be brought out to celebrate the stew at the crew's next dinner out. Unfortunately, Elizabeth was let go just hours before the dinner, but the cake still arrived during the crew's night out.

Seeing how the crew decided to dig in to the cake in Elizabeth's absence, Rachel became visibly upset and walked away from the table. She even chose to not ride back to the boat with her fellow My Seanna yachties at the end of the night.

Rachel opened up more about her reaction to the crew that night in the Below Deck After Show (clip above), sharing, "I was f--king pissed that the f--king crew celebrated her leaving. I was super f--king mad."

Since she wasn't at that dinner, Elizabeth actually heard about this moment for the first time during her Below Deck After Show interview with Rachel, who explained to the stew, "They brought the cake out, and you weren't there, and we couldn't celebrate your birthday, so I got really mad and almost tossed the table."

Izzy remembered how the mood shifted when the birthday cake was brought out at that dinner. "Then when it came out, obviously because Rachel had taken Elizabeth under her wing, I think she was probably feeling a bit to blame and quite upset that this cake hadn't been cancelled because she thought she cancelled it or something happened like that," Izzy recalled. "And then it still came and then everyone kind of sang 'Happy Birthday' because we were all kind of awkward and didn't know how to deal with the situation, so you just try and laugh at it. It took off like a frog in a sock."

Eddie Lucas said that the crew just wanted to eat the cake since it had been brought out anyway, and it had nothing to do with Elizabeth. "What do you expect me to do, just let the cake go to waste? In remembrance of Elizabeth? Like, no, that's ridiculous. No, I'm gonna eat the cake. It's a cake. I'm gonna enjoy it," he said in the Below Deck After Show. "I mean, [Rachel]'s the one who ordered the cake, and then she forgot to cancel it, so shouldn't you just be angry at yourself?"

When Francesca Rubi went to check on Rachel after she had left the table, the chef declined the chief stew's consolation, a sentiment she still stands by today in the Below Deck After Show. Francesca also shared her reaction to being turned away by Rachel that night. 

"She was just so pissed and she wouldn't even have a bar at me, wouldn't allow me any time of day, and I'm like, I'm trying to be there consoling her, after she had done absolutely no consoling to me this entire season, and here I am trying to make her feel better," Francesca explained in the Below Deck After Show. "I just want everyone to be happy. I'm trying to make her feel better because she did just lose a friend as well, and I couldn't do anything about the cake. I didn't even know the cake was coming. I mean, it's not my problem, really, but here I am trying to make things right."

As for Elizabeth, she said that she was glad to hear that Rachel had her back. "Thanks for sticking up for me, my love," she told the chef in the Below Deck After Show.

We'll catch up more with the My Seanna crew when they come together for the Below Deck Season 8 reunion on Monday, February 22 at 9/8c. Bravo Insider has your exclusive look at the sit-down with Andy Cohen, below.

Start Watching the Below Deck Season 8 Reunion Now!

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