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Laura Bileskalne's journey on Below Deck Down Under season 2 was shrouded in controversy and allegations, which then led to Captain Jason firing her mid-season. Once the show aired, she took to social media, claiming the accusations were "false." On a November 6 episode of Rachel Uchitel's podcast Miss Understood, Laura was featured as a guest. She took to the platform to share the personal journey she went through during the filming of the show.
In an attempt to change the perception that the audience had of her taking "too long" to get dressed, she shared some shocking news. During the filming of season 2, Laura discovered she was pregnant, which she initially thought was a UTI, owing to the pain. She had asked the producers and Aesha to keep it hush and planned to abort, but suffered a miscarriage prior to that.
"I guess it is finally time to talk about it because I was not sure I wanted to talk about it. I found out I was pregnant on the second day of the show," Laura said.
She continued,
"I was in shock — that was the first pregnancy for me."
Laura Bileskalne was pregnant on Below Deck Down Under season 2
Laura Bileskalne of Below Deck Down Under took to the podcast Miss Understood, on November 6, 2023. Hosted by Rachel Uchitel, it explores "the lives of those who have been reduced to a single headline." Laura's journey on the show was choppier than the Australian waters, and an incident of s*xual harassment and a comment she made got her fired.
Considering this, Laura was invited to the podcast to share some of what happened on the show and discuss her views. In the case of the fireable accusation, she's consistently stuck with the statement that the s*xual advances were consensual. Her bigger topic of discussion, however, was something else that had not been shown on TV that made her believe she got the "bad edit."
Fans of the show had been calling Laura Bileskalne out for spending too much time in the bathroom getting ready.
Laura Bileskalne revealed that she was facing pain during the initial days of filming, which she thought was "a UTI." However, on a closer medical examination that was ruled out, a "nurse on the show" then gave her a "pregnancy test," which came out positive. She expressed that this left her in a state of distress and shock since she had never experienced this before.
Bileskalne stated that she had only shared the news with the production and Aesha Scott. She had requested that they keep it under wraps since she wanted to get an abortion and didn't know "how to explain" the whole situation on television. However, she believes that the narrative that was built around this made her look lazy, and she was upset by Aesha discussing her bathroom time on camera.
"I told [Aesha] for this reason and it turned to a completely [different narrative]. That was really hurtful actually. That was more hurtful than all the other things because they knew what was happening," Laura said.
Laura Bileskalne also mentioned she had visited the "hospital twice," and shortly before she was due for her abortion procedure, she woke up to the horrors of a miscarriage. She cited this as the reason for the long time she spent locked up, stating that the "bathroom was the only safe place" for her at the moment.
For context on the incidents played on TV, Below Deck Down Under's Captain Jason Chambers made the decision to immediately terminate her contract after two consecutive inappropriate incidents. Bosun, Luke Jones had s*xually harassed Margot Sisson when she was intoxicated. He was fired the same night. Laura had defended him after the incident, which made Margot uncomfortable.
It was also shown that Laura Bileskalne was making s*xual advances at Adam Kodra, despite him asking her to leave him alone several times. After the incident aired, she posted stories on Instagram, still supporting Luke and has in all her interviews after, stated that her intimacy with Adam was all after consent.
Season 2 was undoubtedly the messiest installment in this franchise. All episodes of Below Deck Down Under and other Below Deck spinoffs can be streamed on bravotv.com.
