Summary

• Chef Johnathan shows no concern for his performance despite complaints and near-fatal culinary incidents.
• Chef Johnathan's lack of personal engagement and mediocre cooking skills make him questionable as a crew member.
• Chef Johnathan's lack of improvement in the kitchen and forced friendships are reminiscent of past unsuccessful cast .

Chef Johnathan "Jono" Shillingford has been exhibiting certain behaviors that show he might be a producer plant. Like most Below Deck Med seasons, fans have been contemplating which cast will be the first to get fired, and so far, Chef Johnathan has been the prime candidate. Chef Johnathan has been a constant source of controversy on the show due to his disappointing and sometimes fatal meals.

Chef Johnathan's lack of professionalism and cooking skills has caused him to clash with Captain Sandy Yawn and Stew Elena Dubaich. However, despite the expected consequences of his mi shaps, Chef Johnathan hasn't acted concerned about losing his job. With the rumors that nobody got fired in the season, the producers might have manufactured his addition to the crew.

8 Chef Johnathan Rarely Talks About His Personal Life

Chef Johnathan Might Be Hiding Something

Chef Johnathan ed the Below Deck Med season 9 crew with a glowing wave of experience on superyachts. His bio of being skilled in twerking, singing, and design painted the picture of an engaging personality. However, since the show's premiere, fans have learned nothing new about Chef Johnathan that wasn't known before his debut except that he's not a good cook. Chef Johnathan rarely talks about his personal life or even engages his co-stars in memorable discussions.

7 Chef Johnathan Never Seems Genuinely Scared of Getting Fired

Chef Johnathan Seems Unconcerned by His Mishaps

For any Chef on a luxurious yacht, receiving multiple complaints about your dishes from charter guests, the chief stew, and the Captain is enough indication for improvements and a drastic change before an expected firing. However, Chef Johnathan doesn't look very concerned about losing his job after failing to wake up to prepare food for guests, serving cold eggs and an unimpressive chicken. Instead of improving, Chef Johnathan's meals have only gotten worse. After being confronted by Captain Sandy for almost harming a guest by ignoring her allergies, Chef Johnathan's reply was just a simple, unapologetic "f** me."

6 Chef Johnathan Tries Too Hard To Be Entertaining In His Confessionals

Chef Johnathan’s Tries To Make Up for His Disappointing Showing

Chef Johnathan's time on Below Deck Med has been pretty bland, and most of Chef Jonathan's highlights have come from his disappointing showing in the kitchen, although that's the aspect he is expected to shine in. Still, Chef Johnathan has been trying to make up for his disappointing showing with some uncomfortable confessionals. After Elena woke Chef Johnathan up to prepare some late-night snacks for the guests, he refused, leading to a feud between the two. In his confessional, Chef Johnathan would go on to call Elena a "b**ch" for disrupting his sleep.

5 Chef Johnathan's Friendship With Bri Muller Seems Forced

Chef Johnathan and Stew Bri’s Union of Convenience

Below Deck Med season 9 has been fraught with challenges for the cast , especially Stew Bri Muller, who, before making her debut on the show, had never finished a charter season despite having worked on multiple superyachts. Unsurprisingly, her time aboard Mustique hasn't gone any differently, with Bri struggling with her duties, especially her inefficiencies with the laundry. Bri also has to deal with a love triangle involving her and fellow stew Ellie as they jostle to win over Deckhand Joe Bradley.

Meanwhile, Chef Johnathan appears to be the only crew member who checks on Bri, offering her a shoulder to cry on as she deals with her issues. However, despite their occasional camaraderie, Chef Johnathan and Bri's friendship seems forced. The duo rarely shared personal stories expected of friends or publicly backed each other.

4 Chef Johnathan Isn't Super Close With Anyone Else On Board

Chef Johnathan Isn’t Making No New Friends

Chef Johnathan was portrayed as an entertaining and friendly personality before making his debut. However, since the premiere of Below Deck Med season 9, fans have yet to see the super friendly and entertaining side of Chef Johnathan. Besides Chef Johnathan's "friendship" with Bri, he isn't particularly close to anyone else. Chef Johnathan appears closed off to the happenings and drama aboard the mystique, failing to get on particularly well with any of his co-stars besides Bri.

3 Chef Johnathan's Food Is Too Mediocre

Chef Johnathan’s Meals Are Not Good Enough

Chef Johnathan ed the Below Deck Med season 9 crew based on his reputation as an experienced and excellent cook, and fans had a lot of expectations about him. However, Chef Johnathan soon lost goodwill when charter guests complained about his meals. Chef Johnathan's failure to prepare any late-night snacks for the guests during the first charter trip, despite knowing that they would be looking for them, initially looked like a simple case of forgetfulness.

However, Chef Johnathan's performance gradually worsened. During the second charter, the guests were served cold eggs, which he had prepared beforehand, and they had been sitting out for nearly two hours. Chef Johnathan also served a deconstructed chocolate sponge cake that was described as looking like "poop on a platter," one of the worst comments a chef has ever gotten on the show.

"It looks beautiful; I would eat it if I could."

2 Chef Johnathan Is Giving Chef Mila Vibes

Chef Johnathan and Chef Mila Are Two Sides of a Coin

Chef Johnathan's performance on Below Deck Med has been mysteriously shocking and disappointing. Still, it is nothing fans haven't seen before, especially if closely compared to the first female chef on the show, Chef Mila. Like Chef Johnathan, Chef Mila's meals were heavily criticized as she served disappointing dishes like nachos, tacos, and a cake that tasted like baking soda.

Chef Mila also got in trouble for licking raw steaks and microwaving steaks before serving them to guests, similar to Chef Johnathan, who served cold meals. Meanwhile, Chef Mila was accused of lying about her culinary qualifications on her resume. Chef Jonathan's multiple years of experience are also in question after his abysmal start to life on Below Deck Med. Just like Chef Johnathan, Chef Mila was also believed to be a plant, due to how badly she performed despite the hype surrounding her addition to the show.

1 Captain Sandy Didn't Fire Chef Johnathan After Near-Fatal Incident With A Charter Guest

Chef Jonathan Gets a for Fatal Meal

After Chef Johnathan's disappointing meal rollouts, there were expectations that he would at least try to improve as the season progressed. However, Chef Johnathan's cooking mishaps only worsened and almost became deadly during Below Deck Med season 9, episode 13, when he served a plush plate of tuna carpaccio with pineapple caramel for the new charter guests. However, as most of the charter guests dug in, one of the guests, Jennifer, only glanced at the meal before commenting, "It looks beautiful; I would eat it if I could."

The problem? Jennifer explained that she couldn't eat raw seafood because it could kill her; however, the chef should have known because she had mentioned it about 15 times on her preference sheet. A mishap that could have caused a health issue for a guest was severe enough to get Chef Johnathan fired. Although Captain Sandy had fired past crew for a lot less, she gave Chef Johnathan another on Below Deck Mediterranean, only briefly confronting him about it without any threats of severe consequences.

Below Deck Mediterranean airs Mondays at 9 p.m. EDT on Bravo, then streams the following day on Peacock.