Making a comeback! Now that she’s ready to start the next chapter of her life, Lindsay Lohan is opening up the Lohan Beach Club in Mykonos, Greece, on the Tuesday, January 8, season premiere of Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club. But pulling off this new venture didn’t come without its own set of challenges.
The show kicked off with Lindsay and business partner, Panos Spentzos, introducing their group of VIP hosts who were flying over from the U.S. Her crew includes a mixture of bartenders, bottle service experts and nightclub hosts, including Michael Mulderrig, Juliana Wilson, Brent Marks, Sara Tariq, Aristotle Polites, Billy Estevez, Gabi Andrews, May Yassine and Jonitta Wallace.
Once Lindsay’s staff arrived in Greece, Panos gave them a rundown of the property, and then they were left to their own devices in the house they were staying in, which definitely has the potential to create a little friction.
Surprise! Your Boss Is Here
At the house, everyone immediately started partying — until Lindsay decided to pop in on them for a surprise first meeting. Needless to say, she wasn’t pleased to see that a lot of them were drunk, which earned them a lecture from their boss herself.
“Mykonos is a very good place to think that you’re here to have fun,” she said. “It’s about building this brand that we have made together, and I need you guys to be the backbone of that structure.”
After getting a chance to get to know her staff better, Lindsay made her first judgment call: She wasn’t a fan of Gabi’s attitude (or the fact that she interrupted other people to talk about herself).
“Growing up in the spotlight has taught me to be a quick judge of character, and I don’t know that Gabi is here for the right reasons,” she said.
Lindsay wasn’t the only one who wasn’t a fan. Gabi rubbed Jonitta the wrong way, too, especially after she tried to claim that she’s the only black woman in the house while Jonitta was sitting right there.
“I don’t think Lindsay got to know any of us because of the way Gabi was behaving,” Aristotle said.
Why the Club?
While talking to Panos after meeting her staff, Lindsay revealed that she was worried that the people she hired weren’t taking their new jobs seriously and might take advantage of her. In light of what she overcame on the beach in Mykonos herself, when she was allegedly assaulted by then-fiancé Egor Tarabasov, she really wanted to prove herself there.
“I made it something that is meaningful to me,” Lindsay said. “When I went for the first time with my mom, nothing was finished yet. It was just a sign. She started crying. She was in awe. She was really happy for me, and I don’t want these kids f—king it up for my family and my future.”
First Day
After making a few dress code adjustments, which included Gabi being told to dye her blue hair pink, the staff was off and running. May experienced a little anxiety over the pressure of the situation, though, and that meant that Lindsay and Panos had to take her aside to talk her through it.
“Lindsay’s very approachable,” May said. “The fact that she’s sitting there listening and I can tell she understands made me cheer up. I never had a boss I could talk to that way, and I feel like she cares.”
Meanwhile, there was more drama happening elsewhere as Brent got a little too involved with model and VIP guest Natasha, who he was supposed to be serving that day. They ended up hooking up in the cabana and in the ocean, and the rest of the staff wasn’t impressed.
The next morning, Panos and Lindsay called a meeting where he let Brent off the hook for his illicit behavior, since he was also the host who sold the most that day. However, he was still unhappy with how some of the hosts behaved — and so was Lindsay.
“This is not a summer vacation,” she said. “To make it, you have to be the best of the best, but after yesterday, I’m not sure these VIP hosts have what it takes. If their intention is not to do a good job and work hard, it’s not going to fly with me.”
Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club airs on MTV Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET.
