Wikipedia Biography / Profile Background
Introduction :
- Ashton Pienaar is a professional yacht deckhand and a reality star known for appearing on the TV show Below Deck.
- The show follows the crew of the yacht ‘Seanna’ as they take on challenges arising from managing a yacht & taking care of their clients on board. Each episode of the show features a different group of passengers as they head out for an oceanic adventure.
Personal Life : Parents, Family and Education
- Ashton Pienaar was born on June 16, 1989, in South Africa. He did his schooling in Fourways and graduated from Glenvista High School.
- He went on to do his Bachelors at the University of Johannesburg and earned a degree in Entrepreneurial Management.
- As a young boy, Pienaar represented his country in JKA Karate fighting style. While growing up, he cultivated an active interest in sports and went on to captaining teams in cricket and rugby at provincial levels.
- He also prepared for competing in bodybuilding and CrossFit competitions.
Career before Reality TV : Salary and Net Worth
- After graduation, Ashton worked as a Senior Verification Analyst at Simunye for two years.
- He left that job to be a production manager for Frog Productions. This was his first step into the world of entertainment.
- He worked for Frog Production till he accepted a job at Oomph! Africa as a client service & sales manager.
- It was during this time that Ashton really wanted to break out of his desk jobs work life. He signed up for yacht training in the South of France and then joined the Gene Machine crew as a deckhand and Personal Trainer.
“Below Deck” Appearance :
- Ashton Pienaar joined the crew of “Seanna” as a deckhand in season 6 of the reality show Below Deck.
- He became quite well-known for his ‘bromance’ with another crewmember, Ross Inia. Ashton attributed their strong friendship to their sports and rugby backgrounds. He said that he and Ross balance each other out and were the voice of reason to each other whenever someone seemed to be heading towards a bad decision. The duo continues to keep in touch even after the season ended.
- An onboard romance was brewing up during the entire season between Ashton and Laura Betancourt. They had spent a few nights together and every other colleague knew that there was something there.
- They walked off the boat together at the end of season and it seemed like they had the best chance of surviving on land after the show. However, at the season’s reunion, Laura said they were just dear friends with Ashton sharing similar sentiments.
Near Death Injury & Accident :
- In episode 11 of the season, Ashton suffered a near death experience on the yacht.
- After he stepped on the line to tow the tender, the line quickly wrapped around his ankle and dragged him off the yacht and into the water.
- One of the cameramen, Brent who was filming this put down his camera and was able to help in getting the line loose so that Ashton was free and could swim to the tender for safety.
- If Brent hadn’t been there, then the line would have tightened and it would mostly likely have had seceded Ashton’s foot and he would have bled to death before anyone could get to him.
Interesting Facts, Height and Trivia :
- Anyone can book a shout out video from Ashton on the website Cameo. Ashton himself has advertised this on his Instagram.
- He has two younger siblings, Trent and Kendy who are seen sometimes on his social media posts.
- Pienaar underwent firefighting training that was included in his yachties course.
Most of the people on Below Deck seem to have little impulse control. While most are young and inexperienced, those over 30 should know better, yet they get sucked into the daily fray! Maybe it’s for entertainment purposes. I see it as frequent examples of how not to deal with co-workers. Captain Lee stays in jis crow’s nest and ignores the issues. No wonder he thinks he has such a great job. He’s only doing part of it!
Ashton
I watched this seasons Below Deck and saw the finale with the entire crew. I was kind of shocked. I have lived and worked all over the world and am Captain Lees age. I hope he watched himself on the finale because his behavior throughout the charter season and on the finale was childish. I realize you got lambasted over your behavior by every feminist out there and they just wanted to bash the men and ignore the female behavior. While everyone’s drinking was out of hand, the behavior of Riley and especially Kate was unacceptable (they were sober through most of their actions). You were not always in the wrong…Riley is a spoiled out of control train wreck and Kate is a self indulgent, self obsessed back stabber who should be old enough to know better than to act the way she consistently does. She spent half the season being hateful and causing more issues than she solved…like she has done every season with Captain Lees blessing…I was really disappointed in how he handled himself (very immature). You did a great job as Bosun and don’t let anyone make you feel bad about it. You sat down and tried to talk it out with Riley very respectfully but you can’t deal with anyone who as NO self control. You went to the Captain for help and got none. He asked Kate for her opinion? Hang in there….get your captain’s license, cut down on the drinking and live your life…When its all said and done…you’re a good guy!! You put up with a lot more than I would have and were a lot nicer about it…You spent nearly the entire finale trying to get to higher ground among the crew….I just kept thinking…for goodness sake…how many times do you need to apologize to a person, especially when they won’t really take any personal responsibility for their own actions…
I also find it odd that the show and Captain Lee allowed you all to take a hit for drinking and yet knowing there was an issue. He send you off to an island with nothing to do but drink?