Brooke Laughton won the attention Joao Franco, who was in a love triangle with Laughton and their co-worker, Kasey Cohen, on Below Deck Mediterranean. The two then became an item, but Laughton was worried about keeping Franco committed, especially when she would witness him flirting with Cohen. And, with the season winding down, fans may be wondering if the couple is still together. We do know that Laughton visited Franco in Zimbabwe after the season wrapped and the two were dating, as of late July 2018, so they very well may still be a couple.
In an interview with Decider, Franco revealed, “It’s been quite a tough road. As soon as I got off the show with Brooke, we went to Florence and it was amazing. She is an amazing girl, but it was tough because we had a couple of weeks apart.” He continued, saying, “It was difficult for her but she still stuck there and I really appreciate that about her. I met her family over Christmas and there was still a bit of tension between us, we weren’t sure of each other. Both of us have insecurities but we were very shelled and guarded and we didn’t know what to do. It took a couple of months after that still and we eventually broke, both of us broke; we got together in a way that was indescribable. We worked it out.”
Franco then revealed that he left his job and moved to be with Laughton. He also said that the show has taken its toll on their relationship as well. He explained that, “Eventually I said to her, ‘What will it take?’ and she said, ‘You need to be here’ and so I left, I left my job. I left Europe and I got to Fort Lauderdale … I think what we need to do is just let the show take its toll because every week she goes back to square one and we see a lot of negative in both sides. But at the end of the day, she knows who I am now and that’s what matters. So let the show blow over and then see what happens from there.” So, it sounds like the two are together, but time will tell if their relationship will last.
On an episode of Watch What Happens Live, Franco thought back to his flirtatious ways with the two stewardesses, Laughton and Cohen. He recalled that, “I felt with who I was and seeing how insecure I was, I can say that for me it was just a game, but it was a lighthearted game. It wasn’t anything to do with screwing anyone over … For me, it was this flirting, funny, trying to just be funny, and it backfired. It definitely did, because I didn’t intend for feelings to get involved. I also didn’t intend for me to find feelings for anyone. Seeing how the show has taken us to where we are so far, I do understand more of how it was, and I do regret more of how I was.”
Franco also admitted to The Daily Dish, “I had a crush on Brooke throughout. But this hard shell in me and this ego side of me didn’t want to show it. And in order to not show it, I did, I played around with Kasey, flirting around. So when she had expressed how she felt, I just felt it … I do say [in my interviews] that if I wanted anything serious with anyone, it would be with Brooke. I just didn’t want to be with anyone.”
