Below Deck Season 9 chief stewardess Heather Chase has apologized for using a racial slur on the latest episode of the Bravo reality series.
The episode aired Monday and showed Chase repeating the N-word after co-star Rayna Lindsey used it.
Lindsey, who is Black, later told her co-star that she should not be using the slur, but Heather said she didn’t recall saying it.
Heather was then shown speaking to chef Rachel Hargroves, telling her that Rayna “made me feel bad.”
“I am sorry for the hurt my ignorance caused Rayna in tonight’s episode. While I apologized to Rayna throughout the season, I cannot express enough how remorseful I am,” Heather said on Instagram.
“Over the past nine months since this episode was filmed, I have learned how my words and actions can affect others and I vow to do better in the future,” she added.
Lindsey opened up about the incident on her own Instagram account, revealing that the episode airing was “traumatic” for her.
“It’s like watching a car crash over and over again,” the deckhand wrote.
One fan called out Bravo for not responding to the incident, with Lindsey sharing the following:
“@bravotv you heard the people,” Lindsey replied.
“I’m very disappointed. They kept rewarding her all season and she thought she was gonna get away with it.”
Rayna also shared on Instagram that Heather was “too comfortable” using the slur.
“Like I said, she said that s— regularly,” Lindsey wrote.
Rayna said that Captain Lee Rosbach knew about the incident but didn’t take the time to talk to her.
Rayna also shared that there is more to the incident that will play out as the season progresses.
“Something happens so bad that it becomes impossible to trust anyone. With time and the reunion I hope we can unpack everything,” she wrote before adding that things get worse.
Rayna was also asked whether Heather apologized throughout the season, and her response was that they “aren’t and have never been friends if that helps answer your question.”
“I wish her nothing but the best though,” she wrote.
“She’s young and hopefully can learn from these mistakes.”
Bravo previously fired Pete Hunziker from Below Deck: Mediterranean in 2020 over a racist social media post.
He was edited out of the remainder of the show’s fifth season after the post was found early into the season.
It’s unclear whether Bravo will minimize Heather’s presence throughout the rest of the season, but we should have more clarity if the cable network releases a statement.
Below Deck airs Mondays on Bravo.
Paul Dailly is the Associate Editor for TV Fanatic. Follow him on Twitter.