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What Is Below Deck Mediterranean's João Franco Doing Now?
The Below Deck Med alum headed back to sea on Below Deck Down Under and stayed out there.
João Franco ended Season 4 of Below Deck Mediterranean ready to take on his first job as a captain — and later opened up about that first year as a captain and the future of his yachting career.
João shared more about the changes in his career during an Instagram Live chat with Below Deck Sailing Yacht's Captain Glenn Shephard in March 2021. "I've finished my [officer of the watch] courses. Obviously, COVID had slowed down my progress, which maybe I was running before I could walk," João said. "I was captain on a 30-meter yacht for about a year-and-a-half, and it went really well."
The Below Deck Med alum, who was then in South Africa, also revealed what he'd hoped to do once he passes his officer of the watch exam. "I would like some experience under an experienced captain," he said. "I do know, with all due respect to many out there, I'm able to take on a position, but I'm more wanting to learn from a captain, rather than to be a captain, right now."
"If I could get a next position on a bigger boat, I will do it for a year," he added. "I'll get my master 500 [license]. I'll do it for another year, and then I'll get my 3000 [license], and then I'm on the top. So that's the plan."
Read on to learn more about what João has been up to since Below Deck Mediterranean.
Where is João Franco from the Below Deck franchise now?
João joined the cast of Below Deck Down Under starting in Season 2 Episode 8 — which first aired on Bravo on August 14, 2023 but filmed in April and May 2022, according to the Sydney Morning Herald — as a bosun alongside Captain Jason.
“I’ve so far been a captain for three and a half years on 30-meter boats, but I’m looking to get more experience from a bigger captain on a bigger boat because I have ambition to get to the top,” João explained.
Captain Jason was grateful for João’s addition to the crew. “When he turned up, he had my support, I had his support, and that was very, very essential,” Captain Jason told The Daily Dish in August 2023. “He starts getting the team into shape, which is what it needed.”
RELATED: João Franco Shows Literally Everything He's Accomplished in Yachting in One Photo
In March 2023, João revealed on Instagram that he had taken a new job as the captain of a 43-meter super yacht that he'd also helped build, and was working on getting his master’s license.
He shared pictures of himself on a yacht in Mykonos, Greece in October, with the caption "Getting through this season one day at a time" and the hashtag #captaingoals.
Is João Franco from Below Deck married?
No, João is not married.
He got engaged to then-girlfriend Michelle Dicu in March 2020, and confirmed during the March 2021 Instagram Live chat that he and Michelle were still engaged and had not yet married.
In June 2021, João announced in an Instagram post that he and Michelle had called off their engagement and were no longer together. “Through the hardships of COVID, career paths, and distance, we didn’t make it through,” he wrote in the caption of the post. “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 she is and happy am I. That’s all that matters.”
Who did João Franco date on Below Deck Mediterranean and Below Deck Down Under?
Season 3 of Below Deck Mediterranean found then-lead deckhand João in a relationship with second stew Brooke Laughton, while simultaneously flirting with third stew, Kasey Cohen. João and Brooke eventually split after six months of being together and, by Season 4, João was single.
After his engagement had ended and João joined the crew on Below Deck Down Under, he once again found himself in a boat-mance: After flirting with chef Tzarina Mace-Ralph during a night out with the crew, he asked her out on a date, which went well.
But Tzarina was hesitant to take their relationship off the ship. “I need to get into my real world to see, actually, if we can do casual,” she told stew Jaimee Neal during an episode.
The pair ultimately decided to part ways at the end of the charter season, choosing to focus on their careers rather than their relationship with one another.
Who is João Franco dating now?
João is now in a relationship with Domi Tiesi.
In an Instagram post, he said the couple had met on Tinder in Mallorca and she did not then know what the yachting industry was. In the year that they have been together, the couple has been to 33 countries together and Domi is now works on yachts alongside João.
His Instagram account is filled with photos of him and Domi smiling together, on the deck of a yacht and off.
Originally published Mar 2, 2021.
