Below Deck’s Ellie Used to Be a ‘Personal Massage Therapist’ to the ‘Richest Person in Russia’

Below Deck Down Under‘s Ellie Dubaich claimed she once worked as a massage therapist for the “richest person” in Russia.

“My way of winning a man over is with a massage,” she said during the Monday, April 6, episode of the hit Bravo show. “The richest person in Russia — I am not allowed to say the names because there are NDAs — I was his personal massage therapist.”

Ellie took “a lot of pride” in her massage skills. She used her experience to make a move on João Franco, leading to the pair later sharing g a kiss. João, however, told other people that he was interested in Daisy Kelliher.

Before season 4 premiered, Daisy spoke to Us about her spark with João.

“It was a boatmance. It was a brief thing on board that I seem to really love to do,” she said in January. “I seem to somehow make it part of my personality. It’s kind of a slow burn — I’m not even sure when it happens. It was further down this season and it wasn’t too deep. But it was a good time, and we were getting to know each other. It wouldn’t be a show if I’m not making out with someone.”

Ellie, meanwhile, later broke her silence about a surprising offscreen divide between her, Daisy and Jenna Woudberg after filming wrapped.

“I was surprised because I didn’t mean to offend anybody. I was simply sharing what happened when I got the call after [stew] Joe [Caron] left,” Ellie exclusively told Us in March. “I was on my way to being a second stew because Captain Jason [Chambers] wanted to have the most experienced leadership team. I started working at sea when Jenna was in third grade in 2016. That’s not a dig. That’s a simple fact.”

Ellie continued, “It did make sense that Captain Jason would want me to be in a leadership position. [When he] asked me to change, I was happy to change. That’s all I was saying. I was happy that things worked out the way they did. But the way Jenna and Daisy responded was mean-spirited. It was unnecessary, and I was taken aback. So I think it’s going to be a little bit indicative of how the two of them approached me this season.”

Ellie called Daisy’s reaction a “one-sided” issue.

“It started this season, and we’ll see that evolve,” she teased. “But I don’t really have an issue with Daisy. She doesn’t like me. She doesn’t seem to like me for whatever reason. We’ll see how that happens. But I don’t really have an issue with her.”

Below Deck Down Under airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Peacock.