Who is Natasha De Bourg? Meet 'Below Deck Sailing Yacht' Season 2 chef who left her home amid the pandemic
The highly-popular reality TV show ‘Below Deck Sailing Yacht’ is back with Season 2. All eyes will be on new crew member Natasha De Bourg, a culinary artist who has worked alongside seven different chefs with Michelin Stars.
De Bourg was born in Trinidad and spent most of her younger days in a troubled neighborhood. She escaped a difficult childhood and troubled marriage to attend culinary school in Europe. After finishing school, she focused on working at top Michelin-star restaurants. However, Covid-19 did play a spoilsport for her on one occasion and forced her to leave Trinidad in the middle of the pandemic.
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The show is the second spin-off of ‘Below Deck'. The first season of the series started airing on February 3, 2021, and garnered positive reviews. The reception prompted Bravo to work on the second season with intriguing characters. In the first season, the crew worked aboard 177-foot sailing yacht during a charter season in Greece. However, the crew will be embarking on a journey to the beautiful country of Croatia. The show will also introduce an all-new crew in Season 2.
Captain Glenn Shepard will be joined by chef Natasha De Bourg, chief stew Daisy Kelliher, chief engineer Colin Macrae, first mate Gary King, second stew Dani Soares, third stew Alli Dore and deckhands Sydney Zaruba and Jean-Luc Cerza Lanaux.
Why did she leave Trinidad amid a global health crisis?
In February 2020, she returned to Trinidad for a vacation after working tirelessly at different international locations. The Covid-19 pandemic wreaked havoc all around the world and forced Trinidad to close its borders. The closing of borders left her unemployed. It was getting hard for her to stay there and she eagerly wanted to leave the place. In July, she obtained an exemption to leave the country and went to Spain for work. She worked there for three months and reportedly made a good amount of money.
However, it was not easy for her to leave her home country in the middle of a pandemic, but she took the difficult decision in order to follow her dreams and represent the women of her country. In an interview, she said: “It may seem strange to some that I chose to leave my country in the middle of a pandemic. I believe that following my dreams and my passions through the career I love is my most fulfilling life. I chose to leave for work to represent my country, and women.”
De Bourg also said that her work in Europe was “far from a vacation” and the Covid-19 restrictions did not let her leave the ship she was working on. But she never made herself vulnerable because she knew what she was doing was “essential”.
She said: “What I did was not easy. It was not a normal job, I was in a Covid-free bubble, unable to leave my ship, with twice-a-week Covid testing. My travels to Europe for work were far from vacation, but it is my passion and something that was essential.” After her job ended, she was living temporarily in a yacht at Palma, in Mallorca, an island in Spain. De Bourg got stuck in Spain for almost a month and wanted to return home. She applied for an exemption on September 15 and contacted the National Security Ministry on several occasions, but she received no response.
A month later, she finally received the good news that her request for an exemption to return to Trinidad had been granted by the authorities. De Bourg noted: “As I sit on my flight to London I am overwhelmed with emotions regarding my horrors in trying to return home this past month. It feels surreal to finally be one step closer, one flight closer to home. I feel for those who are still waiting, and I am eternally grateful to finally be moving forward.”
It will be interesting to see what kind of personality she shows in front of the camera while working in ‘Below Deck Sailing Yachts’.
The second season of ‘Below Deck Sailing Yacht’ will premiere exclusively on Bravo on March 1, 2021, at 9 pm ET.