Has Captain Lee Rosbach sailed his final voyage on Bravo? According to Us Weekly, his time as the commander of the Below Deck franchise has come to an end. Bravo hasn’t officially confirmed the news. But multiple sources claim that Captain Lee will not return for Below Deck Season 11. Instead, Below Deck Adventure star Captain Kerry Titheradge will take his place.
Rumors surrounding Captain Lee’s departure from Below Deck shouldn’t be too surprising for fans. The Stud of the Sea has been candid about his ongoing health issues. During Season 10, he had to step away from the yacht due to nerve pain. He explained on the show, “The pain’s getting worse, not better. I owe it to my crew to do right by them. They expect that out of me.”
During an all-hands meeting, Captain Lee shared with the St. David crew that he would be leaving the charter season early due to his health complications. The news left the crew stunned and captainless. Captain Sandy Yawn came onboard to fill in. Her addition left viewers and the yacht crew with mixed feelings.
While filling in at the helm of St. David, Captain Sandy has shown off her signature micromanagement style and propensity for on-screen drama. She fired stew Camille Lamb. For the chief stew Fraser Olender, he admitted that Sandy took some getting used to —especially as a fill-in for Lee.
“I think they have, overall, very different management styles. I knew Captain Lee, and I knew how he worked,” Fraser said. “I knew how he liked things to be run. He also trusted me, and he gave me the confidence to be creative and enjoy my take on [it].”
Although Captain Lee was initially grateful for Captain Sandy’s willingness to fill in, the two have been feuding online over their different management styles and Sandy’s decision to fire Camille. On the other hand, Captain Kerry and Captain Lee seem to be on excellent terms. Before Kerry made his Bravo debut, he says that Lee gave him some solid advice over a round of golf.
“‘Be yourself. Be that same guy I was playing golf with,’” Kerry recalled of his conversation with Lee. “And then I asked him about social media and how to do that. I said, ‘I heard I should get someone to do it, so I don’t get caught up in it.’ He goes, ‘No, do your own social media. Don’t let anyone do that.’”
Before Below Deck Adventure premiered, the two captains ran into each other at BravoCon. Kerry said the Stud of the Sea shared even more words of wisdom for navigating his new reality TV career.
“The show hadn’t been out yet, but we got a chat, and he’s like, ‘Man, you’re gonna do great. You’re gonna do really good. I can see it.’ He says, ‘You’re gonna do fantastic in this franchise.’ And then he chatted with my daughter. It was cool,” Captain Kerry said.
So, it sounds like there’s nothing but good energy between Captain Kerry and Captain Lee. It should be a smooth transition of power between the two. Of course, we’re still waiting on official confirmation from Bravo about this casting shakeup. We still don’t know what it means for the future of Below Deck Adventure, but either way, we’re excited to see what this new era of Below Deck brings.
TELL US – WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON CAPTAIN KERRY TAKING OVER FOR CAPTAIN LEE? IS THERE SOMEONE ELSE YOU WOULD RATHER SEE LEADING THE MAIN BELOW DECK SHOW?
[Photo by: Charles Sykes/Bravo]