Season 11 of Below Deck just started, but Captain Kerry Titheradge and Fraser Olender are already teasing several potential firings.
“I think we may have reached the record of firings this season,” Kerry exclusively told Us Weekly about the hit Bravo series.
During the premiere, which aired on Monday, February 5, viewers noticed tension between bosun Jared Woodin and lead deckhand Ben Willoughby. Kerry hinted that things will continue to escalate as the season goes on.
“It’s a bit of a power struggle there with Jared and Ben,” he added. “I didn’t realize how bad it was until that first episode.”
Fraser, meanwhile, teased what fans can expect from the rest of the cast, saying, “A few people turned up for season 11. … You do see lots of new characters and you see lots of diverse people from different places and you get to see a bit of everything this year.”
The newest season marks Kerry’s debut on Below Deck after Captain Lee Rosbach‘s shocking exit. Below Deck viewers, however, are already familiar with Kerry after he led the team on Below Deck Adventure, which aired in early 2023.
Us broke the news in February 2023 that Lee would no longer appear on Below Deck after a decade-long run. He has since booked a new project as the host of an Oxygen true crime series titled Deadly Waters.
In addition to alums Fraser and Ben, Kerry was also joined in season 11 by chef Anthony Iracane, deckhands Sunny Marquis and Kyle Stillie and stews Cat Baugh, Xandi Olivier and Barbie Pascual in Grenada.
A trailer for the newest season, which was released in November 2023, offered a glimpse at the potential rifts on St. David. Fraser and Ben specifically didn’t see eye-to-eye while running their respective departments.
“Please don’t get involved in interior drama,” Fraser told Ben, who responded, “Mate, you’ve had way more people let go on your side. End of story.”
According to Kerry, he made it a priority not to “make judgements” about the cast before getting to know everyone.
“I try not to make judgements when they turn up. It’s important to look at their CVs,” he told Us. “This year I made a decision that I wasn’t going to give stripes out. I wasn’t going to allocate anyone full-time on something before knowing how they work, who they are and what attitude they bring to the team. That was great. That really enabled me to make a decision that I’m proud of and that worked for the season. So that was cool.”
Kerry also revealed how each Below Deck captain reacted to his transition from Below Deck Adventure.
“Everybody [reached out]. On the way down to Grenada, I was chatting with Lee in the car. He was talking about the boat. He talked about Fraser and Ben,” he explained. “[Captain] Jason [Chambers] reached out. [Captain] Glenn [Shephard] reached out. We pick on each other a lot, so he calls me his stunt double. It’s a big family. We genuinely are. It’s great.”
Below Deck airs on Bravo Mondays at 9 p.m. ET. New episodes will stream the next day on Peacock.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
