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Captain Lee returns for “Below Deck” season 8 with a few bumps in the road.
The Below Deck crews change every season, and most times it even changes in the middle of the season. Season 8 of the superyacht series features a cast with mostly new faces, but throughout the eight seasons, many crew members have been hard to forget. Below Deck season 8 premieres Monday, November 2 on Bravo.
Captain Lee Rosbach – or Captain Lee for short – certainly hasn’t forgotten about crews of seasons past. During Season 3 of Below Deck, the crew faced some rocky waters. Third stewardess Rocky Dakota clashed with then Chief Stewardess Kate Chastain, and things quickly escalated into argument after argument.
Dakota grew close to Chef Leon Walker, but Walker also constantly argued with both Chastain and Captain Lee. After a few charters, Captain Lee fired Walker, and Dakota didn’t agree with the decision. After she found out her only crew friend had to leave, Dakota dramatically dove off the side of the superyacht.
The Third Stew herself reflected on the moment on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen on January 6.”I thought I was gonna quit,” she said, as recorded by the Daily Dish. “I was trying to quit. I was trying to leave. Boom, you fired my best friend. Boom, I’m out of there.”
Dakota returned to the yacht and finished the season, but Captain Lee confessed he was close to cutting her yacht time short. A Below Deck fan tweeted they just finished watching the season and wrote, “[I don’t know] how [Captain Lee Rosbach] didn’t hand Rocky a plane ticket home.” Captain Lee retweeted the tweet and added the caption, “Oh, it was close, so close.”
Rocky Dakota Criticized Kate Chastain
Even though former Chief Stewardess Kate Chastain and former Third Stewardess worked together over five years ago, the two still have some tension between one another. Below Deck celebrated its 100th episode on January 6, and Chastain and Dakota joined other crew members to celebrate on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
When Cohen asked Dakota to name her favorite Below Deck moments, Chastain chimed in saying, “Jumping off the boat was iconic. You’re a legend. You’re not the best yachtie, but you are so entertaining and so talented. I could never dive like you, I could never swim like you, you’re so talented.”
Dakota didn’t take Chastain’s compliment well and asked, “And how come you say I’m not the best yachtie?” The former Chief Stew said, “Because you jumped off the boat in your underwear. Do you like it? Are you still doing it? You could be, I don’t know. At the time, you didn’t seem to love it.”
Dakota then spilled some feelings she’d been hiding during the season. “Well, I went to culinary school and thought I was gonna be the sous chef, and then I was the third-ranking stew, the lowest ranking cleaning lady,” she said, as reported by the Daily Dish. “I never cleaned a yacht in my life. So why would I like cleaning a yacht if I was planning on being a sous chef?”
Chastain added that she didn’t think her comment was offensive. “This really took a turn I did not expect,” Chastain said. “I really think you’re amazing!” Dakota replied, “Well, when you say something negative, then I just want to know where it’s coming from.”
‘Below Deck’s’ Current Bosun Has Worked With Rocky Dakota
Although Kate Chastain won’t be returning to Below Deck this season, the series will still showcase two familiar faces. Captain Lee will manage the crew again and deal with plenty of boat-mances, disobedient crew members, and demanding charter guests.
Eddie Lucas will also return as Bosun. Lucas took a break from the show and hasn’t made an appearance since he served as a Deckhand on season 3 of Below Deck. Lucas worked with both Kate Chastain and Rocky Dakota during the season. Lucas is an original cast member, having been on Below Deck for the first three seasons. Over the last five years, Lucas earned his 1600-ton license and worked as First Mate on a four-man tugboat crew, according to Bravo.
Season 8 also introduces fans to six new cast members: Chief Stewardess Francesca Rubi, Stewardess Elizabeth Frankini, Stewardess Isabelle “Izzy” Wouters, Chef Rachel Hargrove, Deckhand James Hough, and Deckhand Shane Coopersmith.
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