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The Daily Dish Below Deck Mediterranean

What Attracted Below Deck Mediterranean's Brooke Laughton to João Franco?

There's another side to the deckhand, according to the stewardess.

By Laura Rosenfeld
Brooke Confesses Her Feelings to João

João Franco has been quite the controversial crew member this season of Below Deck Mediterranean. Though he's found himself smitten with Kasey Cohen and Brooke Laughton and is a model deckhand in Captain Sandy Yawn's eyes, he has often been at odds with Hannah Ferrier and Conrad Empson. 

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So Below Deck Med fans may be wondering how the deckhand has been able to win the hearts of not one but two ladies this season, given that he hasn't been such a hit with everyone in the crew. Well, we can't speak for Kasey just yet, but Brooke did dish on her chemistry with João during a recent interview with Decider. "It was a really initial thing. Obviously when we’re thrown on the boat, we all meet each other. Just physically he was really my type; strapping, broad, tanned, the accent," she explained. "And then when I got to know him a bit more, he’s really intelligent which I admire in people, and he’s super hardworking and very driven. That was where it came from, the chemistry and my like for him, on the surface." 

Brooke went on to say that it took "a little while" for her to develop feelings for João this season, given all of the drama with the first charter guests (remember the ladies who just wanted their nuts?). "But I think it’s just like anything, you know, if you go to a party, there’s going to be this instant chemistry, purely physically, and then it just develops or it doesn’t," Brooke said.


The Below Deck Med stewardess said that she has seen a very different side to João, which fans got a glimpse of when he asked Hannah to stop taking photos of Brooke after she fell asleep during one of the crew's nights out earlier this season. "He thought he was doing the right thing. And I don’t think just because he didn’t like Hannah was why he was doing it, just any excuse to cause a rift. I thought it was really sweet," Brooke told Decider. "What you don’t see so much of is he is a true gentleman, he really is. I have to say that about him, he is." 

João expressed a similar sentiment about that situation involving Brooke and Hannah during an interview with Bravotv.com last month. "Brooke is a sweetheart. The kindest and softest girl in the world! It upset me that Hannah rounded everyone up to take embarrassing photos of her," he said. "I felt it was unnecessary to make fun of her when she couldn’t speak for herself. Maybe Brooke wouldn’t have minded but I was just trying to do the right thing." 

Watch Brooke dish more on João, below.

The #BelowDeckMed Love Triangle
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