Who is Below Deck Med’s Johnathan Shillingford? Meet Season 9’s expert chef

Below Deck Mediterranean Season 9 returns to Bravo on June 3, and an experienced chef is among the new crew members joining Captain Sandy Yawn aboard the Mustique.

Johnathan Shillingford is the new chef on Below Deck Mediterranean Season 9, and will bring a lot to the table with his cuisine. However, this wasn’t the career path he intended to take.

Although Johnathan worked as a yacht chef for many years, he revealed on Instagram that he got into the career by accident.

“It’s true y’all. About eight years ago I turned my passion for food into a profession, and pivoted my career to become a Culinary Architect: I build food!” he wrote in a post from May 25.

“I spent seven years getting a Masters in Architecture degree, and while I still do practice design for a select group of clients, being a yacht chef is my main job!”

Johnathan went on to say that he started by taking on a temporary cooking job eight years ago without any experience, and the weeklong gig lasted for two years.

He admitted that it’s hard to put value on someone who has an unconventional path, and encouraged his followers to know their worth and keep at anything they put their mind to.

According to the chef’s Bravo bio, he hails from Roseau, Dominica and was born on July 7, making his Zodiac sign a Cancer.

Johnathan has seven years of experience in the yachting industry, and his favorite places to travel are French Polynesia and the Tuamotu islands, which he calls “heaven on Earth.”

While the chef may excel at cooking, his other special skills are twerking, singing, cooking, design, and pulling off many different accents.   

Aside from being on Below Deck Med, Johnathan also enjoys watching other Bravo shows such as The Real Housewives franchise, Top Chef, and Project Runway.

When he makes his reality TV debut on Season 9, viewers will learn more about him and see how he fares on the Mustique working alongside Chief Stew Aesha Scott, Captain Sandy, and the rest of the crew.