Daisy Kelliher Shares Which 'Below Deck' Chief Stew She's Most Similar To (EXCLUSIVE)

Shannon Raphael - Author
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PUBLISHED Mar. 1 2021, 12:56 p.m. ET

Daisy Kelliher on 'Below Deck Sailing Yacht.'
Source: Bravo

Those who are looking to quell their wanderlust during the pandemic or who want to vicariously live through uber-wealthy charter guests will be tuning in to Season 2 of Below Deck Sailing Yacht.

The season filmed during the pandemic, so instead of celebrating the charters' conclusions with booze-filled club nights out, the crew will be spending their off-time on Parsifal III — which will surely lead to some ultra-dramatic moments. 

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Captain Glenn Shephard is joined by an entirely new crew this time around (so there will be no more PDA-packed kitchen moments between Chef Adam Glick and Jenna MacGillivray), and the boat is coasting all around Croatia. 

One new addition is Chief Stewardess Daisy Kelliher, who is no stranger to working on sailing yachts. She spoke exclusively with Distractify about her Olympic connection, what annoys her the most about her interior team, and why things can get so tense on the show.

daisykelliher
Source: Instagram
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Who is 'Below Deck Sailing Yacht' star Daisy Kelliher? The sailing industry is in her DNA.

The 33-year-old may be new to Below Deck Sailing Yacht, but she's definitely not a novice in the yachting industry. The Dublin native has been working on boats for a whopping nine years, but sailing has really always been a part of her life. 

Daisy's grandfather sailed for Ireland in the Olympics back in the '60s. He passed that passion on to his descendants. 

"We come from a strong sailing background," Daisy told Distractify about her family. "I grew up sailing on dinghy boats, and we went for holidays on small sailboats."

But it was her dad who pushed her toward a career in yachting. "My dad encouraged me to join the industry because he thought I would really enjoy it," Daisy told us. "Dads are always right."

Though she's not currently working on a boat, she's spending time in Antigua "trying to figure out life" until she returns to Europe for the summer. 

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Daisy compared her chief stew style to that of this 'Below Deck Med' alum.

In the years since Below Deck was created, viewers have gotten to learn the styles of several notable chief stews — like list-centric Adrienne Gang, font-focused Kate Chastain, interior decor-enthused Hannah Ferrier, and tablescape expert Bugsy Drake, among others.

Though they all differed in some ways, most have been focused on details and micromanaging their subordinates. 

hannahferrierdaisykelliher
Source: Instagram
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Daisy, who was introduced to Below Deck by an engineer on her previous boat, says her style is most similar to Hannah Ferrier, though she doesn't really think viewers have seen anyone like her on the show before.

"I think I'm quite different from the other past chief stews," she told us. "I'm possibly like Hannah, just because I'm running around, and I don’t know what's going on sometimes."

She dished on her biggest workplace pet peeves and why the boat "environment is intense."

Unlike most of the other chief stews viewers have seen in the Below Deck universe, Daisy is more hands-off and "relaxed," which sometimes may make it seem like she "lack[s] authority." But, that leading style can change if her stews, Dani Soares and Alli Dore, aren't proactive about asking her for help.

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"I don't like micromanaging, and I want to have a strong team of people who believe that they are able to do it. If they're not, then I want them to have the kind of initiative to come and ask me."

When her team doesn't come to her for help, Daisy shared that it can get on her nerves. 

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"A lack of initiative definitely annoys me," Daisy said. "I don't want to have to write a list for every single thing. If you see something that needs to be done, do it... If you can see that something is dirty, I shouldn't have to tell you." 

Working with people who don't take charge is one red flag for Daisy, as is "a lack of communication."

Overall, a lot of the frustration on board comes from the fact that the crew members are often spending every waking minute together. Daisy teased that there will be some tough moments between the yachties as the season progresses. 

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"You're obviously working crazy hours, and the environment is intense. Things that might not frustrate you in your normal life definitely gets you a bit more, especially when it's mid-season or mid-charter," she explained. "In retrospect, you'll wonder why you got so annoyed by something... It isn't normal in a real environment. It's different and more challenging."

While tensions definitely will rise as the crew gets comfortable on Parsifal III, Daisy added that she doesn't "have bad blood with anyone" after filming (which is a rarity for Below Deck standards).

That may be the case now, but viewers will see it all go down on the show. 

"It's going to be one of the most entertaining seasons that ever happened," she teased. "A lot happened, and I'm still trying to digest it all."

Below Deck Sailing Yacht airs on Mondays at 9 p.m. on Bravo. 

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