With every new season of Bravo’s “Below Deck” and its spinoffs, viewers are introduced to fresh new faces ready to tackle the constant surprises that come with working on a luxury yacht.
For season 10 of “Below Deck Mediterranean,” viewers met Victoria SanJuan, who went from working alongside chief stew Aesha Scott to working with bosun Nathan Gallagher on the deck team, showcasing her versatility and ability to handle whatever the charter season threw her way. However, SanJuan dropped a bombshell when she revealed the heartbreaking death of her boyfriend. Since then, she’s made a personal decision to embrace a new chapter in her life, marking it with a symbolic fresh start.
‘Below Deck Med’ Star Victoria SanJuan Cuts Off Dreadlock Once Belonging to Her Late Boyfriend in Powerful Act of Healing
At the start of the season, Victoria SanJuan shared an incredibly heartbreaking story when viewers first met her. The reality star opened up about the tragic passing of her boyfriend, Bon, who died just months before she joined Captain Sandy Yawn and her crew.
Now, with the season finished filming, SanJuan shared on Instagram that after two years of grieving, she made the tough decision to cut off a dreadlock in her hair that once belonged to him.
“If you know me from this season of ‘Below Deck Mediterranean,’ it’s no secret that my boyfriend passed away,” she began while holding a pair of scissors in her hand.
“If you knew Bon, if you saw pictures of him, my boyfriend who passed, you knew that he had dreads. And like a year before he passed, he cut off all his dreads, and he kept them,” she shared, showing that she had a piece in her hair, and adding, “There is only the physical piece I have left of him.”
SanJuan then touchingly shared that she continued to wear the dreadlock so that he could be with her on her many adventures, but it had become “an attachment that I just have to let go.” With the help of her mom, SanJuan cries as she cuts the dread off and later sobs into her mother’s arms, who tells her it’s time she faces a “new chapter” in her life.
San Juan’s decision to move on from her grief prompted several fans to comment on her bravery. “You’re so brave & inspiring 🥹 Grief is the hardest experience life throws at us. And healing takes time, sometimes lifetimes. But we never forget, our heart never forgets, the special place they held in our heart 💗,” a fan shared. “❤️❤️ you’re strong AF, made me almost tear up,” another person wrote.
SanJuan Called Her Late Boyfriend’s Death ‘Such a Mystery’
On the Sept. 29 episode of “Below Deck Med,” SanJuan opened up about her boyfriend’s passing with Aesha Scott and other stew, Kizzi Kitchener. “Eleven months, on my birthday, my boyfriend passed away,” she shared (via Us Weekly).
SanJuan revealed that Bon, who was a dive instructor, had “drowned,” and called his death “such a mystery.”
In a confessional, she touchingly shared, “I met Bon trying to get my dive certification. He was a dive instructor at the time and I had a whole romance with him. We did everything together. It was beautiful. Losing someone I love so much, your heart physically hurts. The first two months I was, like, brain dead.”
Because of his death, SanJuan had stayed away from scuba diving. However, during an appearance on “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen,” after the episode aired, she shared that she’s since gotten back into the water.
“The ocean was my first love, Bonnie was my second. And so, I want to go back to what I originally loved and what brought us together,” she told the host.
