What would the Below Deck team be without the level-headed maturity of Eddie Lucas? He started as bosun between 2013-2015, left the show as penance for hooking up with mermaid/stew Rocky Dakota, then returned in Season 8 as First Officer. He’s Captain Lee Rosbach’s right hand man and has a way of rounding up rowdy crew mates after a crazy night out.
Maybe he’s too stable a personality for reality TV. Whatever the reason for Bravo to decide to ax Eddie from Season 10, the fact is, our favorite Below Deck veteran will not be returning.
Us Weekly reported on Eddie’s termination from the hit reality TV show. “I was not invited back to do another season,” Eddie, 37, stated to the New York Post. “I actually didn’t even get a phone call from them saying they hired someone else – which kind of goes to show what the production entails. Everyone on Below Deck is expendable.”
If what Eddie claims is true, then the cast paychecks will reflect their value to Bravo. Sure enough, Eddie confirmed that Below Deck crew are the lowest paid on the network. He explained, “There is somebody monetizing off of the show, but it’s definitely not us. Below Deck – regardless of it being the most popular show on Bravo – we are the lowest-paid cast members.”
Eddie added, “While we do get paid better than a normal yachtie, of course, we are still not getting paid what people like the Housewives are making, which is a little frustrating, because they’re not really working — they’re just going out to dinner and fighting.”
That’s a really good point. How can we put a value on entertaining crazy guests, navigating a yacht through stunning locations, and getting a first-hand experience of life at sea?
Despite Eddie’s grievances, he would return for the right price. It sounds like former Chief Stew Kate Chastain had the same idea.
In contrast, Bravo Executive producer Courtland Cox previously expressed how much value Eddie brought to the show. Especially as emotional support to Captain Lee, who tragically lost his son in July 2019.
Courtney told Vanity Fair at the time, “On the heels of this incredibly awful tragedy that Lee and Mary Anne [Rosbach] suffered to be able to have someone familiar like Eddie come back, when he has been like a son to Lee, it got magnified into this kind of amazing but awful coincidence. While you’re seeing what Lee went through and seeing what Eddie meant to him, it really puts it in perspective how you’re making a TV show with real human stakes.”
Perhaps Eddie’s termination had something to do with the N-word controversy that happened on Season 9. Chief Stew Heather Chase was called out for using the N-word in the presence of deck hand Rayna Lindsey. Despite Heather’s contrition and apology, Rayna did not feel the situation was resolved. Eddie got involved, as a boss, when Rayna’s frustration affected her performance at work.
Eddie and Rayna engaged in a conversation, but what was shown on screen fell flat of viewer expectations on how to handle the matter. Eddie had to deny that he would, “brush racism under the rug” and even suggested that he was silenced by higher-ups when he attempted to pursue disciplinary action against Heather.
“I mean, I was told on numerous occasions to not talk about it and not bring it up anymore,” Eddie previously claimed. “It was actually a really good conversation that we were having. And it’s just gotten spun into something different.”
Rayna countered by saying it was Eddie that wanted to silence her. It all came to a head at the Season 9 reunion when Rayna accused Eddie of trying to discredit her by claiming she said a homophobic slur.
Eddie rebutted by saying it was more of an analogy than an accusation. Bravo and analogies don’t seem to mix. His point, simply that Rayna was also making offensive statements. However, Eddie’s claim could not be confirmed by video footage.
TELL US- ARE YOU SURPRISED THAT EDDIE WAS FIRED? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF HIS CLAIM THAT BELOW DECK CAST IS UNDERPAID?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]