Below Deck Firing Confirms Trouble Is on the Way for Season 11 Crew

Below Deck has officially set sail once again, with the crew of the St. David hitting the Caribbean island of Grenada for season 11. We got to meet all of the newbies in the season premiere, but this crew is still anchored by a few veterans, including Chief Stew Fraser Olender and lead deckhand Ben Willoughby. The premiere also saw the return of Captain Kerry Titheradge, who made the jump from Below Deck Adventure to replace Captain Lee Rosbach on the flagship series.

The arrival of a new captain onboard naturally means there will be changes to the way the yacht is run. But one change is not so good…

“There’s a significant turnover this year,” Chief Stew Fraser revealed to E! News, confirming there will be quite a few firings before the season is over. “I don’t go anywhere though, so thank God for that.”

“You’re probably gonna see more than season 10,” Willoughby echoed. The good news is these departures make way for the return of a few Below Deck veterans. “You’re in for seeing a few more familiar faces,” Willoughby confirmed, “One a little bit more familiar than you would expect. But I’ll leave that for you guys to decipher.”

Place your bets on who might walk the plank early in season 11. The premiere certainly foreshadowed there would be trouble in paradise with a few of the new crewmembers, including Bosun Jared Woodin, who, after a few years out of the game, seemed to struggle with certain routine maneuvers, like dropping the anchor without communicating with the captain first. Willoughby, who knows this ship well, didn’t seem too happy to have to work under Woodin by the episode’s end. Expect some friction within the deck team in the next few weeks.

Meanwhile, what’s up with Chef Anthony Iracane taking so long to serve guest meals? He took so long to send dishes in the first episode that the charter guests asked if he could please speed up dinner service. Also, he’s very messy. Titheradge himself admitted there were problems with the chef this year, telling TV Insider, “His food is absolutely amazing. The quality is incredible, but that galley of his is a big problem.” Such a direct criticism this early in the season spells trouble for Iracane.

Catching up with Bravo’s The Daily Dish, Titheradge explained that his leadership style is “firm, but fair.” But it sounds like the crew of the St. David may get more of the firm side this season, as even the captain teases viewers should expect “some twists and turns throughout the season.” No doubt he means firings, right?

“I like to have a bit of a joke with my crew, but they need to realize that I’m not their friend,” he said. “My door’s always open, [but] if they cross the line, they’re going to find out.”

What exactly did crewmembers do to “find out” this season? Titheradge isn’t saying, but he promises viewers there will be shenanigans.

“The crew got up to things that I probably shouldn’t know about,” Titheradge told TV Insider. “And I had to make some changes, yes, changes. I don’t do this lightly, but if I have to make a change, I want them to understand why so they can better themselves. I really care about their mental health and where they are at. When I have to make a change, it’s well thought out and comes from a place of love.”

We’ll see how the rest of the crew feels about his love language soon enough.

Below Deck airs on Mondays at 9 pm ET on Bravo.