What happened to Luke & Laura in Below Deck? “Despicable” actions & firing explained

Below Deck Down Under’s Laura Bileskalne and Luke Jones were fired from Season 2 for inappropriate misconduct towards their co-stars.

Letting people go isn’t uncommon for Below Deck’s captains. It has happened before, like when Chief Stewardess Hannah Ferrier was fired from Below Deck Mediterranean by Captain Sandy.

But, serious terminations of employment don’t happen too often. In fact, Below Deck Season 4 had no one let go/quit the entire season. However, the same can’t be said for Below Deck Down Under Season 2 as stars were fired for completely unacceptable behavior on board.

Two of the crew members were fired in unforeseen circumstances, so here’s what led to Laura and Luke’s contracts being torn up.

Luke & Laura’s firing on Below Deck: Here’s what happened

Luke Jones firing explained

In an extraordinary turn of events, Bosun Luke Jones was fired for unconsented sexual advances toward Stewardess Margot Sisson. She was asleep in her bed when Luke went into her room, completely naked, and went into her bed – without consent.

Margot was barely awake and not fully aware of what was going on. A producer stepped in (something fans had never seen before) and tried to get Luke out of her bed.

He responded by cussing at the producer and closing the door in front of the camera. Ultimately, he left her room, and Chief Stewardess Aesha Scott went inside.

She asked Margot if she consented to him being in her bed, to which she responded by saying, “No I was asleep.” Captain Jason Chambers then took control of the situation. Luke locked himself in his room, but Jason unlocked it with a spare key and told him to immediately leave the boat. He only returned briefly to collect his belongings.

Laura Bileskalne firing explained

The next to be fired was Stewardess Laura Bileskane. She got into the hot tub with Deckhand Adam Lukasiewicz and began touching his legs.

He quickly started saying ‘no’, but she ignored his lack of consent and continued to make sexual advances toward him – leading to her dismissal.

A little while after the hot tub incident, she then goes into his bedroom, gets into his bed, and attempts to massage him. The producer has to step in, once again, and have her removed. But, she didn’t stop there.

After Luke was fired, Laura talks to Margot and says that she’s upset that he’s gone, and that he was probably joking around with her. Margot reports her comments to Aesha, who then runs it up the totem pole to Captain Jason.

He quickly fires her, forcing her to leave the show.

Laura & Luke Below Deck video: firing scene

The following YouTube video from Access Hollywood shows some footage from one of the most controversial firing incidents in Below Deck history.

Captain Lee slams “despicable” behavior from Luke and Laura

One of Bravo’s most popular captains, Captain Lee Rosbach, called out the stars of the Aussie spinoff for what they had done.

Lee spoke about the scandal in an interview with Us Weekly. “Their behavior was despicable.

“Both of them. And I’m sure they’ll be paying the price for it for a long time to come. As they should.”

Luke & Laura’s apologies revealed

Margot, while she was still on the boat, revealed that Luke had reached out via text message to apologize for his actions.

On top of that, Laura broke her silence by saying sorry to co-star Adam Kodra for what she had done.

On Instagram, back in August 2023, she said: “My sincere apologies to Adam, I did not realize I made him feel uncomfortable and no one should be put in that position.”

In reply to that, Luke liked the message. He said: “It doesn’t matter what they think about you because you don’t care. Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact.

“Everything we see is a perspective. Not the truth. Take ownership and move forward.”

According to our article on the story when it broke, his message was apologetic in tone for not reaching out as soon as it occurred, and wanted to chat on the phone.