Now that Colin MacRae’s season of Below Deck Sailing Yacht has come to an end, he is opening up about the crew’s alcohol consumption. Colin appeared on Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 2 earlier this year as the chief engineer on board. He became very close with his first mate Gary King after Colin’s roommate Jean-Luc made to switch rooms with Gary due to his height. Even though Colin didn’t say much during the season, he was well-liked by most of the crew.
Other than being super friendly with the whole crew on Below Deck Sailing Yacht, Colin, who recently battled COVID-19, was the only one in the group who didn’t get out of control with his drinking. He usually had a beer in his hand during their days off but he never seemed out of control like some of his fellow crew members. However, it seems like Colin was able to keep his cool a little more when it came to drinking compared to his crew.
During an interview on the Altered Reality podcast with Below Deck Mediterranean alumni Alex Radcliffe and Anastasia Surmava, Colin spoke about how the crew was encouraged to drink alcohol by producers before he sat down for interviews. “I don’t know about you guys, but they encourage us to get pretty hammered during those interviews,” he told the hosts. In fact, when the engineer told chief stew Daisy about Gary possibly wanting to hook up with Sydney (who was rumored to be dating Captain Glenn) to get back at Alli, he admits it was alcohol-induced. “They encourage you to drink,” Colin admitted. “It loosens up your nerves and they get more juice out of you. So that particular morning, it was like our second to the last interview […] So I went in there and I smashed like 10 beers. I was f*cked up.”
After throwing back so many beers, Colin went back to the boat completely wasted and had a conversation with Daisy about Gary. “I was like walking past the laundry. And Daisy’s standing there doing some laundry. And it just slipped out of my mouth,” he admitted. Shocked by the news, Daisy immediately went to Alli, who announced her pregnancy, and told her what Colin said about Gary’s plan. As a result, Alli ignored Gary for the rest of the dinner, which ultimately ruined the evening for them. Colin admits that he regretted saying anything to Daisy. He also feels responsible for the drama that ensued. The hosts weighed in on the situation, with Alex admitting producers put him on a drink limit after he blacked out one night. “I had three bottles of wine, and for my season, everyone else after that had no more than two drinks,” he revealed, adding, “I blacked out, got back to the boat. They had to stop filming because I couldn’t stand up.”
While alcohol may have induced Colin to spill the beans to Daisy, the producers would never push alcohol on a crew member who did not agree to drink it. Colin made the decision to drink ten beers, and the aftermath of his drinking is his prerogative. Hopefully, Colin negatively talking about the producers doesn’t kill his chances to appear on Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 3.
Sources: Altered Reality podcast, Colin MacRae on Instagram
