Captain Elliott revealed to After the Catch host Mike Rowe that he is unable to even speak with his children at this point.
Ol’ Captain Elliott; his troubles just keep growing and growing on the Ramblin’ Rose.
But, it seems that the problems of the Deadliest Catch captain reach far beyond the Bering Sea and into his personal life, specifically with his two children and their mother.
Just listening to Elliott, one might think that he is in a committed relationship with the mother of his kids when, in fact, he is not.
As she told him on Deadliest Catch, “You had seven years to get it right,” and, apparently, he did not.
But, he still doesn’t appear to have a firm grasp on the fact that she is his ex-girlfriend, not his current girlfriend.
It was really interesting to hear him talk about the relationship on After the Catch.
“I’ve lived with my kids’ mom for eight years, and it’s pretty tough when you’re out fishing … trying to keep a relationship together. It’s tough.”
Just listening to Elliott, one might think that he and his ex-girlfriend, Val Gunderson, are still an item, at most just going through a difficult patch.
He went to visit his kids after leaving the Ramblin’ Rose docked—with a highly discontented crew and against the desires of the owner—but he appeared to view the break not just as a trip to see his kids, but as a chance for him and Val to work it all out and get back on track.
Val, on the other hand, made it clear that the visit was just time for him to see the kids.
After Elliott tried to hug her while she pushed him away, she told him, in no uncertain terms, that it was “too late” for him to make amends and get things right.
But, he was persistent. As they sat on the couch watching the kids, he said:
“It’s nice to be home. I’ve been looking forward to hanging out with them, hanging out with you. Watching TV and stuff together.”
“It’ll just mostly be kids’ stuff though,” Val informed him.
Then, Elliott started getting agitated, getting up and saying, “I’m sorry that some of your friends are gonna see us and you can’t just like act normal about it.”
Val, who acted as though she had been through all of this before, put an end to the argument before it started, saying, “You know, Elliott, you know, I’m just going to ask you to leave.”
Can’t blame her.
At this point, Elliott told After the Catch host Mike Rowe that Val now has custody of the kids, and he isn’t allowed to even speak to them.
Although he did not delve any deeper into the custody situation, it has to mean something that he is not even allowed to speak to his children at this point.
Captain Sig asked Elliott if he took any responsibility for his situation, and he didn’t seem to; he actually seemed to just blame his ex’s alleged penchant for nice things for most of the problem, saying that he couldn’t afford to keep her in material things with any other job he might have, but that his being away so much made her upset, too.
Possibly, but it certainly is not a reason for his being unable to even have contact with his children at this point.
In February, TMZ reported that Val had gotten a restraining order against Elliott, alleging that, on Feb. 13, he called her 38 times and sent her 15 texts in less than an hour.
She also said that one night in January, he called her 54 times. Val has also alleged that Elliott had been drinking and possibly using drugs, to which he has admitted having a history of doing.
She also indicated, TMZ reported, that she fears for her safety, and that Elliott told her mother, “If I can’t have [Valerie] nobody can.”
But, according to his Twitter page, Elliott says he’s gone ahead with his life since that episode was filmed:
I’ve moved on but it’s still hard to watch it brings back sad memories 🙁
Still, sounds like Captain Elliott Neese has bigger problems than whether or not he’ll have a job on the Ramblin’ Rose at the end of the crabbing season.
Stay tuned.