Ruan Irving Got Into Deep Trouble Quickly on 'Below Deck Mediterranean'

The Gist:

• New bosun Ruan Irving on Below Deck Med only had copies of his required paperwork and not the originals.
• It turns out one certificate was also fake and he got kicked off the yacht.
• Ruan was told he could come back once he got the paperwork figured out, but he decided not to.

Summer may be over, but we are sailing on the Mediterranean Sea every Monday with Season 8 of Below Deck Mediterranean. Ruan Irving, the new bosun, got into deep trouble pretty quickly.

We were introduced to Ruan during the first episode of Season 8 of Below Deck Mediterranean. Ruan told us he had been a bosun for three years, and was a "Yachtmaster"... or was he?

What happened and where is Ruan now? We break it all down below.

During the premiere episode of Season 8 of Below Deck Mediterranean, an inspector came on board the Mustique and pointed out that Ruan's papers were copies and that he needed his original papers. The boat would be detained until he could get them.

Later in the episode, an even bigger bomb was dropped: Ruan's papers were actually fake. When Captain Sandy scanned one of his forms, someone else's picture came up, proving that his certificate was fake.

Ruan seemed shocked by the news, but didn't really have a clear answer. He said, "On one of the boats because the ticket expired, we needed to get a ticket done quickly. A guy came on the boat and he issued us our tickets."

Ruan said that he received his certificate on a boat in Monaco, but Sandy quickly tells him there isn't a school in Monaco for this. Ruan was offered the chance to come back once he got all his papers sorted out, but he decided not to return.

Ruan took to Instagram to explain what actually happened. He said:

"The certificate issue all my original hard copies were in South Africa. I never travel with them that’s why I get certified copies made! Now the show had copies of certified copies because I sent them copies as requested (nobody ever asked for the originals till MCA came on board) after the show I flew to Cape Town and I got my certificates and sent the show a video with all the originals."

Ruan also addressed the Yachtmaster certificate issue saying that he had asked a person at the school to send the paperwork for the show. He received what he now knows is a fake certificate. Ruan ended the caption with, "It’s been a year since the show and all my certificates have been updated and the originals are always on me. Lesson learned."

So, where in the world is Ruan now? On Oct. 1, 2023, Ruan shared a picture of himself on his Instagram stories (now living in a highlights) laying on a boat in St. Tropez and living his best life. Good for you, Ruan, good for you!

Make sure to catch new episodes of Below Deck Med on Bravo Mondays at 9 p.m. EST.