Related: ‘Below Deck’ Cast Through the Years: A Guide to Who’s Dated Who
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Luka Brunton Fred Jagueneau/Bravo
Luka Brunton‘s time on Below Deck Mediterranean has been riddled with romantic connections — and not all of them have taken place on board.
In 2023, Bravo fans were introduced to Luka on season 2 of Below Deck Down Under where he briefly got caught up in a love triangle with Jaimee Neale and Culver Bradbury.
Captain Jason Chambers later recommended Luka to Captain Sandy Yawn and he was offered a position on the deck team for season 8 of Below Deck Med, which aired months later. However, Ruan Irving forging his paperwork helped Luka move up the ranks from a provisional bosun to leading the exterior team.
Throughout the season, Luka was able to balance his job and his love life with surprising success. He developed a flirtationship with Natalya Scudder but it didn’t get far because she was trying to figure out her open relationship with an offscreen boyfriend.
From there, Luka turned on the charm with Jessika Asai, which became a season-long boatmance. Luka’s past with Below Deck Med alum Katie Flood also came to light while he was still on the Mustique.
Luka later confirmed to Us Weekly that he didn’t actually didn’t end up with anyone in the Below Deck universe.
“I’m in a relationship at the moment. [I’m] back with my partner that I was with before the show,” he revealed to Us during BravoCon in November 2023. “We split up [before] the show and we’re back together now. I don’t think she’s watching [this season]. It’s probably good.”
Keep scrolling for a guide to every connection Luka made during season 8 of Below Deck Med:
Courtesy of Jessika Asai/Instagram
It didn’t take long for sparks to fly between Luka and Natalya during season 8 of Below Deck Med. Despite being interested in each other, Natalya was actually hesitant to take it further because of a confusing open relationship with her then-boyfriend.
Natalya and Luka made out a few times but ultimately parted ways when she left early to figure out the issues in her personal life. The pair kept in touch though through flirty messages, which Luka didn’t tell Jessika about amid their fling.
“Just because [Jess and I] are hooking up and maybe I don’t want to be in a relationship doesn’t mean I don’t care about her. Everyone has their feelings,” he said in a January 2024 episode. “I never said to Jess that I wanted a relationship. So there’s no strings. Imagine if people found out I was texting Natalya.”
Courtesy of Jessika Asai/Instagram
After Luka realized he wasn’t going to hook up with Natalya, Jessika suddenly caught his eye. The twosome quickly moved from just flirting to a casual relationship throughout season 8. However, a lack of communication created issues when Jessika found out about Luka being in contact with Katie.
“This whole situation is really annoying. But at the same time, it is not my business on who he is talking to,” she told the cameras in a January 2024 episode. “I’m not going to deprive myself of having fun. I’m just going to go into all of this with my eyes open.”
Luka, for his part, wasn’t sweating the drama because he wasn’t expecting a future with Jessika.
“Obviously I like Jess a little bit more than a friend. We are not in a relationship. I’m not f—king dating Katie Flood. We’re just friends. Just friends. Even if I was texting her as more than a friend,” he said in a confessional before cutting himself off. “OK. Well, yeah. I don’t know.”
Luka Brunton and Katie Flood Bravo
Below Deck viewers were thrown for a loop when Luka randomly revealed he was on friendly terms with Katie, who appeared on a past season of Below Deck Med. Luka told everyone — including Captain Sandy — that there was nothing romantic between him and Katie.
“I’ve known Katie for like four years. She used to date one of my friends and I know that she’s worked with Sandy in the past,” he said on a December 2023 episode. “My history [with her]? We don’t really have any history. We’ve hung out a few times. What are you trying to get at?”
The jury is still out on whether Luka was telling the whole truth about his platonic bond with Katie.
Luka Brunton‘s time on Below Deck Mediterranean has been riddled with romantic connections — and not all of them have taken place on board. In 2023, Bravo fans were introduced to Luka on season 2 of Below Deck Down Under where he briefly got caught up in a love triangle with Jaimee Neale and Culver
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AfriqueFest: Pan-African Musical Experience — World Cup Edition is set to take over Noto Houston on Sunday, June 28, bringing together East, South, and West African sounds in one immersive celebration of music, culture, and connection. Presented by Experience Noir and Bolanle Media, the event is designed as a cinematic night for the culture, blending global energy with Houston nightlife in a way that feels elevated, intentional, and deeply rooted in African creativity.

At the heart of this year’s experience is DJ Shinski. Born and raised in Nairobi, Kenya and now based in Houston, DJ Shinski has built an international name off high-energy sets that move effortlessly across Afrobeats, Amapiano, hip‑hop, dancehall, reggae, and electronic sounds.
He has also become Africa’s most‑subscribed DJ on YouTube, crossing the 2‑million‑subscriber mark and turning his mixes into a global destination for music lovers.
DJ Shinski’s style is precise but unpredictable: one moment it’s classic Afrobeats, the next it’s East African anthems, then a run of throwback hip‑hop or R&B that still feels fresh. That ability to read a room and connect multiple worlds in a single set is exactly why AfriqueFest is building so much of the night’s energy around him.
At AfriqueFest, DJ Shinski helps drive the Safari Grooves segment, representing East and Central Africa from 4 PM to 6 PM. Expect a journey that moves from Nairobi to Dar es Salaam, Kampala, Addis, and beyond, all filtered through his signature “vibes on vibes” approach behind the decks.
Supporting that energy, DJ Tunez leads the Gold Coast Beats chapter from 8 PM to 10 PM, bringing his own Nigerian‑American Afrobeats pedigree to the stage. Together with the Diamond Rhythms segment (South) and a curated roster of DJs, the night stretches across the continent in three distinct musical chapters, all connected by a single dance floor.
Hosted by @chris_gone_crazy, @kingdrewwskyy, @roselynomaka, and @samsnewleaf, AfriqueFest is positioned as more than a party—it’s a celebration of sound, style, and Pan‑African identity in Houston, with DJ Shinski anchoring the experience from the moment doors open.
Brought to you by Bolanle Media and Experience Noir, this World Cup edition of AfriqueFest is crafted as a night where global DJs, storytellers, and music lovers collide and create a shared cultural memory. With DJ Shinski front and center—and DJ Tunez helping close the night—guests can expect a show that reflects both the future of African nightlife and the power of the diaspora to create unforgettable live moments.
If you want to experience DJ Shinski live at AfriqueFest, now is the time to lock in your spot. Purchase your tickets now at AfriqueFest.com and get ready for a night of music, movement, and culture at Noto Houston.

A bold new sketch comedy series for women premieres June 13 across the U.S., U.K., and Canada — arriving on the back of a festival-winning run that has critics and audiences already paying attention.
It isn’t every day a brand-new comedy arrives already wearing a row of trophies. Our Ladies Show does. The seven-episode inspirational sketch comedy series — created, written by, and starring Christin Jezak — begins streaming on The Roku Channel on Friday, June 13, 2026, available free to viewers in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada.
Produced in partnership with global media services leader Encompass Digital Media, the series sets out to do something rare in today’s streaming landscape: make women laugh out loud and leave them lifted. In a media moment crowded with noise and cynicism, Our Ladies Show is a deliberate counterweight — comedy with a conscience, built for women of every age and background.

Each of the seven episodes opens with a monologue from one of the cast members introducing the theme, then rolls into three or more sketches that hit the subject from every comedic angle. The series tackles the things women actually carry: holding grudges, comparison, beauty, patience, gift giving, the importance of community, and dealing with anxiety.
The comedy comes from a place of warmth rather than mockery — a “laugh at ourselves” spirit that runs through a gallery of unforgettable characters: a nosey neighbor, an overwhelmed mom, relentlessly optimistic flight attendants, beauty pageant winners past their prime, and a crew of unruly campers with a counselor who simply cannot hold it together.
Then the show does something most sketch series don’t. In the final segment of every episode, the cast gathers in a living-room setting and invites the audience in — sharing real inspiration drawn from the theme, the sketches, and their own personal stories. It’s the moment the laughter turns into something that stays with you.

Our Ladies Show brings together three performers with serious range:
“In a world with so much division and depression, I hope women of all ages and backgrounds will watch this show, laugh, be reminded of how beautiful, unique, and loved they are, and remember how much we need each other.”— Christin Jezak, Creator & Star
The series’ recurring long-form sketch, Neighborhood Watch, didn’t arrive quietly. Originally released as a web series and revamped for Our Ladies Show with new footage, sound, and music, it has been sweeping the festival circuit:
Our Ladies Show premieres Friday, June 13, 2026, streaming on The Roku Channel — the home of premium and free entertainment — in the U.S., U.K., and Canada. All seven episodes deliver the series’ signature blend of sharp sketch comedy and genuine encouragement.

Watch the trailer now on your platform of choice:
For more information, visit www.ourladiesshow.com and follow @ourladiesshow on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Christin Jezak has worked for over 15 years in the entertainment industry. She created and stars in Our Ladies Show and the award-winning web series Neighborhood Watch. She produced the EWTN TV program For the Sake of the Gospel and the all-women web series Ladies Keepin’ It Real, played Dr. Sam in Miracle at Manchester (starring Dean Cain, Daniel Roebuck, and Eddie McClintock), and voices Agnes in the podcast Confessions of a Catholic Single. She held a lead role in a short film for NTT Data directed by Academy Award–winning cinematographer Janusz Kamiński, has co-starred on Raising Hope, and appeared in Jimmy Kimmel sketches and a Grubhub Super Bowl commercial.

Roku pioneered streaming on TV and is the #1 TV streaming platform in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico by hours streamed (Hypothesis Group, Dec. 2025). The Roku Channel is the home of premium and free entertainment, alongside Roku’s Howdy and Frndly TV services. Roku is headquartered in San Jose, California.
Encompass Digital Media is a global managed services company — technology-driven, software-defined, and people-powered. Trusted by world-leading broadcasters, networks, sports rights-holders, and OTT platforms, it processes over 25,000 hours of content daily, serves 850 channels to 84 countries, distributes over 243,000 live events annually, and reaches 400 million radio listeners weekly worldwide. Learn more at www.encompass.tv.
Media & Interview Requests: To interview creator Christin Jezak or the cast, contact Christin at cjezak@p2ptheatre.com.

Most of the talk about Euphoria asks one question: was it realistic? That’s the wrong question if you make films. The better one is simpler. How did Sam Levinson get an audience to feel addiction from the inside? And what did it cost him to end the show the way he did?
Strip away the noise and Euphoria is a clinic in three choices: point of view, style, and the ending. Here’s what’s worth taking — and what isn’t.

Most shows about drugs watch from across the room. Euphoria doesn’t. When Rue is high, the camera is high too. Walls breathe. Floors tilt. Time skips. You’re not watching her — you’re stuck inside her head.
That’s the lesson: point of view is a decision you make with the camera and the cut, not a mood you add later in color. Levinson builds it into the lens, the blocking, and the edit.
So before you shoot a scene through a character’s eyes, ask one thing on set: whose eyes is this lens standing in for? Then make every cut respect that.
The glitter. The slow push-ins. The impossible club lighting. Euphoria‘s look got copied everywhere. That’s the trap.
The style worked because it carried weight. The beauty wasn’t decoration — it was the lie addiction tells you, the reason the next high looks worth it. The camera made self-destruction gorgeous on purpose.
The copies missed that. A thousand music videos took the look and left the meaning behind, and you can feel how hollow they are. So here’s the test: if your signature style could be swapped onto any other project and still “work,” it’s not a style. It’s a filter. Every choice should have a reason behind it.
When Euphoria ended for good in Season 3, Levinson killed Rue — an accidental, fentanyl-laced overdose. He called it “the honest ending,” saying he wanted to tell a true story about addiction and grief in a time when one mistake can be the last one. Reportedly, that wasn’t the original plan; the death of Angus Cloud, who played Fezco, changed the script.
Forget whether you agree with the choice. Study how it works. An ending is the last instruction you give your audience about how to read everything before it.
By ending on consequence instead of recovery, Levinson reframed seven years of beautiful chaos as a story about cost — not a celebration of it.
It’s also the show’s most debatable move, and that’s worth noticing too. A show that spent years making pain look beautiful had to fight to make that pain land as loss. Did it earn the ending, or enjoy the wreckage too long to stick it? Smart filmmakers will disagree — and that argument is exactly what a good ending is supposed to start.

The neon grief is the most copied part. It’s also the least useful. Take the surface — the colors, the slow-mo, the trauma-as-texture — and you get the costume without the body.
The real craft is underneath. Commit your camera to a real point of view. Make every stylistic choice earn its place. Treat your ending as the point of the whole thing. Do that, and your work won’t look like Euphoria. It’ll do what Euphoria did.
This piece touches on addiction and substance use. If you or someone you know is struggling, support is available through the SAMHSA National Helpline at 1-800-662-4357.

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STREAMING PREMIERE · JUNE 13, 2026