After facing accusations of being a producer plant, Below Deck Mediterranean's Chef Johnathan "Jono" Shillingford laughed off an accident that could have cost a charter guest their life. Chef Jono has been a constant source of drama during his time in Below Deck Med season 9, including beginning the very first charter by refusing to wake up when a member of the interior crew, Ellie Dubaich, asked him to cook. From there, Chef Jono went on to undercook meat for one meal and left eggs sitting out for two hours after miscommunicating with Aesha Scott, the Chief Stewardess.

"The charter ordering all seafood when they knew their guest was allergic to raw seafood is kinda shady."

In a recent episode of Below Deck Mediterranean season 9, Chef Jono served a guest raw fish. When Captain Sandy Yawn asked how the food was, the guest informed Captain Sandy that she could die if she ate the fish, which she had specified on her preference sheet. Now in an Instagram Story that featured a social media post by Dustin Cone, Chef Jono caused more controversy.

The Instagram Story showed a post that said, "The charter ordering all seafood when they knew their guest was allergic to raw seafood is kinda shady." Chef Jono put a laughing emoji over the picture in response.

Should Chef Jono Be Held able For Below Deck Med Behavior?

Chef Jono's Behavior Has Been Reckless & Dangerous

It's shocking that Chef Jono would respond this way to a post implying that the Below Deck Mediterranean team was, at the very least, negligent. It is interesting, though, that they would order so much seafood after the charter guest specifically stated that she could not eat raw seafood because it could kill her. Then Chef Jono not only didn't prepare an alternate meal for the guest but also served her raw seafood. Now when there is a valid critique of the situation, Chef Jono has chosen to try and laugh it off instead of taking it seriously at all.

Captain Sandy has had many issues with Chef Jono's behavior and work ethic since he started, although she defended his actions when he refused to wake up and prepare late-night snacks on the first charter. Captain Sandy's decision not to fire Chef Jono came across as hypocritical at the time, considering how she treats most of the other crew : team over self. However, Captain Sandy later changed her mind about firing Chef Jono because she could not find a replacement chef. Now it seems like Chef Jono will be allowed to get away with his allegedly fake poor performance.

Chef Jono spent a lot of time after filming Below Deck Mediterranean season 9 bragging about his skills as a chef, how much training he has had, and how he ed certification testing with flying colors. Chef Jono has posted many times about how happy his current charter guests are with his cooking, how much fun they are, and how they have had no complaints about him. If this is true, it is curious that Chef Jono would be so bad at his job on television, going so far as to serve a guest something that could have killed her.

Chef Jono claimed that he had simply forgotten about her preference sheet specifying the fact that raw seafood is deadly to her, which would be hard to ignore for the person in charge of someone's life. Chef Jono may, in fact, be excellent at what he does, but viewers can only base their opinions on what they are shown, which is someone who recklessly disregards people's safety in order to make an entertaining television show. It is unfortunate that Captain Sandy was unable to find a replacement for Chef Jono when she has been known to fire people for less.

Below Deck Mediterranean airs Mondays at 9 p.m. EDT on Bravo and is available to stream the following day on Peacock.

Sources: Dustin Cone/X, Johnathan Shillingford/Instagram