The calm before the storm? Captain Lee will be facing some rough seas as he adjusts to a new crew in season 10 of Below Deck.
“St. Lucia is the most beautiful island in the Caribbean. It is green from the beach all the way up to the top. And it is lush — it is just out of a postcard,” the Bravo personality gushes in Us Weekly‘s exclusive sneak peek at the season’s cold open ahead of the show’s premiere on Monday, November 21.
The Michigan native notes that he is in for a chaotic season, saying, “I have been a captain 37 years. Everybody wants to be a captain until it is time to do captain s—t.”
Viewers are briefly introduced to a mix of new and old cast members who will be coming aboard St. David for season 10. Fraser Olender is returning to replace Heather Chase as the chief stew and will be joined by chef Rachel Hargrove, who will be appearing for her third season on Below Deck.
The interior team is rounded out by newcomers Hayley De Sola Pinto and Alissa Humber. Meanwhile bosun Ross McHarg will be running the exterior alongside deckhands Luis Antonio ‘Tony’ Duarte, Ben Willoughby and Katie Glaser. Season 10 will also feature its first combination of a deckhand and stew in newcomer Camille Lamb.
In the video, Captain Lee must deal with crew romances, injuries and a possible evacuation while trying to bring the best experience to the charter guests. The trailer for season 10 previously hinted that the OG cast member might be wrapping up his time on the hit Bravo series.
Lee’s former costar Kate Chastain, however, squashed speculation that season 10 will be his last. “He’s always coming back. I mean Captain Lee will probably be on Below Deck for as long as the show is on,” she said on the “Unfiltered” podcast earlier this month. “There is a saying that every good captain goes down with the ship and metaphorically Captain Lee would do that.”
The Florida native added: “Coming up on the new season of Below Deck airing this fall on Bravo, there is a change that happens. That has never happened before in prior seasons. And Captain Lee may or may not be the captain some of the time.”
Captain Lee previously went through a health scare in season 8 when he slipped in the shower and broke his ribs. He also arrived a few days late into season 9 following a heart procedure.
“The timing was mainly screwed up. Because we have such a tight shooting schedule, it was imperative that the guests’ charters start and end on time so it didn’t have a domino effect and impact every charter after that,” he told E! News in August 2021 about the brief shakeup.
Season 7 of Below Deck returns to Bravo on Monday, November 21, at 8 p.m. ET
Scroll down to meet the cast of Below Deck season 10: