Making it official! Malia White seemingly confirmed a romance with Jake Baker, who appeared on season 6 of Below Deck Mediterranean, after previously calling it quits with Tom Checketts.
“🖤,” the engineer captioned a photo of the duo kissing on Sunday, August 29.
Chief stew Katie Flood replied to the photo with a fire emoji, while stew Courtney Veale wrote that the White, 31, and Baker “just broke the internet” with the sweet pic.
Baker, who was the engineer for season 6 of the Bravo show, also posted a birthday tribute for White one month prior.
“HAPPY BIЯTHDAY to the Moon Boot Queen herself 🖤 ILY,” he wrote via Instagram in July.
Although the bosun has not posted any photos of her with her rumored new beau yet, White and Baker enjoyed a double date with their former boss Captain Sandy and her girlfriend earlier this year.
“What a wonderful evening! Played top golf with my love @captainsandrayawn and Malia White and friends ! So great to finally meet Malia in person, what an amazing soul! #maliawhite #belowdeckmediterranean #bravo #friendship #love #cuboulder,” Leah Rae captioned a photo of the foursome spending time together in May.
That same month, a Florida-based event styling company titled The Little Gatherings shared a glimpse at White and Baker’s romantic day together.
“Tonight we had the absolute pleasure of curating something special for these two cuties – @maliakpwhite was a goddess in that white dress + @bakeyjakeyy was equally as lovely,” the company wrote alongside a photo of the pair.
This new Below Deck connection comes after the Florida native confirmed that she called it quits with Checketts in September 2020.
“Yes, Tom and I have split,” she said via Instagram at the time. “The details surrounding all of it I am trying to keep a little private just out of respect to him and I. But yes, I am single.”
Earlier this year, the reality star opened up to Us Weekly about her discovering that the chef was allegedly cheating on her.
“Yeah, we were, you know, working on different boats,” White told Us in July. “It was in the pandemic [that] had just happened. So, it was impossible for us to see each other. It was right when the show is coming out, it’s obviously a lot going on in our lives. And, yeah, he found someone else on his boats, and I didn’t know for a couple of months.”
Checketts has not commented on the split or on the infidelity accusations at this time, but fans saw him trying to keep in contact with his ex during season 6 of the Bravo show.
White also admitted that she was “not in a place to look for romance,” even though David Pascoe showed interest in her during their time on the Lady Michelle.
“I think I even told David [about the split, explaining] that everything with Tom and I was falling apart right before we filmed this season,” she told Us in July. “I was a mess coming into it and I was just like, ‘You know, I don’t really want to even see men right now.’”
At the time, White shared that she wasn’t ruling out boatmances in general because of the industry that she is in.
“The people you work around are the ones you build these close relationships with. And for us, these may be the only people we meet for months at a time,” she explained. “So, you naturally develop feelings toward people.”
