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'Below Deck': Is James Hough using Rachel Hargrove's drunk behavior as an excuse to dump Elizabeth Frankini?

Fans were convinced that James was just using Rachel as an excuse to get rid of Elizabeth after getting caught off-guard with discussion on marriage

Has the two-week-old whirlwind romance between James Hough and Elizabeth Frankini come to an abrupt end? It looks like it. The new cast members of Bravo's hit franchise 'Below Deck' managed to create some noise with their recent hookup. 

While Elizabeth is over the moon about her new love, unfortunately, her fellow co-worker and chef on the charter, Elizabeth Hargrove, might not share the same feelings. The chef who had a brief moment with James earlier this season doesn't seem to have a great impression of the deckhand. So, when she got drunk, she began talking smack about James and calling him a douche and questioning Elizabeth's decision to hook up with him. 

Rachel did this publicly at the dinner table, while all the cast members were present. James got annoyed and worked up, but couldn't do much about him because Rachel was drunk. When she continued to repeatedly insult him, James finally requested her to stop talking about him while he was at the table. But the chef paid no heed to it and continued to badmouth him. 

Elizabeth tried her best to calm Rachel down by telling her that she really liked him, and didn't want to hear nasty things about him. But the chef was too caught up in her feelings to stop and continued to ramble the entire night about what a horrible person James was and how stupid Elizabeth was for sleeping with him. By the end of the dinner, James was obviously annoyed with Rachel but decided to direct it at Elizabeth instead. He began questioning their relationship because Elizabeth didn't have his back. He expressed how he couldn't trust her anymore because she didn't shut down Rachel. 

He used this against Elizabeth to not talk to her until the stewardess apologized to him and reassured him that she would always have his back. But it looks like the damage has been done since the deckhand was openly flirting with another crew member right in front of Elizabeth. After watching the episode, fans were convinced that James was just using Rachel as an excuse to get rid of Elizabeth. Many placed the reason on Elizabeth discussing marriage with James, and that scaring him off.

A fan tweeted, "James is handling the whole Liz/Rachel thing pretty immaturely at the dinner. Would he have rather Liz freaked out on Rachel and had the whole situation escalate? #BelowDeck." Another fan wrote, "Idk I think James is using this "she didn't have my back" as an excuse. He's backing off bc Elizabeth already mentioned marriage. Lol. I feel like she did try & stick up for James. There's no arguing w Rachel her being so drunk anyway. Liz doesn't like confrontation. #BelowDeck."

Another fan pointed, "Now James wants to hold Elizabeth accountable for “not having his back” while Rachel was talking shit about him, WHILE THEY WERE WASTED. Dude, James, come ON. #BelowDeck." Another said, "And James using first thing to distance himself with Elizabeth after her saying she’s thinking long term with him #BelowDeck." One fan expressed, "As much as James is saying he doesn’t trust Elizabeth for not having his back, it’s convenient reason after her comments and saying they should get married earlier that day #BelowDeck." 

'Below Deck' Season 8 airs every Monday at 9/8c only on Bravo.