What Happened To Pete On Below Deck?
The bigger a reality show franchise gets, the wider the net that is cast for less-than-ideal personalities to potentially become associated with the brand. And we're not talking about the good kind of bad personality that makes for fun, drama-filled, tea-sipping viewing. We mean the type that includes legitimate toxicity — and that's where Peter Hunziker comes in.
One of several spin-offs from anchor show "Below Deck," "Below Deck Mediterranean" followed vessels that worked in the titular sea and its surrounding countries. For Season 5, that meant Spain, not to mention a fresh batch of crew members. One of those members was Peter "Pete" Hunziker, a deckhand who featured heavily in the first three episodes before subsequently seeming to all but vanish off the show without an explanation. So what happened to Hunziker, and why was it so extreme that he was essentially edited out of the show entirely for the remainder of the season?
What did Bravo say about Pete's termination?
Pete Hunziker didn't exactly make friends on "Below Deck Mediterranean." He was demoted from lead deckhand to regular deckhand as a direct result of the disrespect he had shown to bosun Malia White — who noted that Hunziker seemed to have an issue with taking orders from a woman, referring to her with demeaning, misogynistic nicknames like "sweetheart." But that type of thing alone isn't enough to get someone fired from a reality show, unfortunately.
In 2020, when the Black Lives Matter movement had gained nationwide attention in connection with the George Floyd protests, old problematic social media posts from famous people began to resurface — including Hunziker's. He had posted what was deemed to be a racist meme, and when called on it, only doubled down and told people to just relax and get over it. When all this was brought to Bravo's attention, they wasted little time in firing Hunziker. The network plainly explained the reason why in a post on Instagram which read, "Peter Hunziker has been terminated because of his racist post. Bravo [...] is editing the show to minimize his appearance for subsequent episodes."
Pete's response to being edited out of Below Deck
Pete Hunziker was initially quiet about his firing, not saying anything about it publicly one way or the other. But about six weeks after Bravo's announcement, Hunziker did finally address the controversy on his own Instagram account. He claimed that he had "thoughtlessly" reposted the meme when he came across it, and went on to say (via People), "I now realize how painful the imagery and symbolism is and, upon deeper consideration, I realize that the implicit bias that exists in the brief text written in the meme is offensive."
He continued, "To all those I have hurt and offended please know that I am genuinely sorry. I have always fully supported equal rights and equal opportunities for ALL people." He also included the advice, "Always think before you post," before ending with "Love, Pete." Hunziker didn't specifically address his reduced role on "Below Deck" following his firing. That being said, some fans of the show made a little game out of trying to spot Hunziker in the backgrounds of shots, or pinpoint moments where it was clear that scenes in which he was featured were clipped out of the show.
What has Pete been doing since Below Deck?
Though he has yet to return to television or anything else in a celebrity-type capacity, Pete Hunziker hasn't completely disappeared from the public eye. He has a public Instagram account that he posts on regularly, typically via photos of himself and members of his family — often in, on, or near the water. He continues in the same line of work that got him on "Below Deck," though he's now headquartered in his native Florida rather than Spain.
Things have been pretty uneventful for Hunziker, at least publicly, for the most part. The only notable exception is some back-related health issues that Hunziker mentioned during 2023, though he didn't go into much detail on those issues or what caused them. On a more positive note, Hunziker seems like he is now able to see his son a lot more than he could when his work had kept him on long international trips.