After weeks of drama and bickering at sea on Below Deck, coronavirus finally made its impact. Season 8 came to an abrupt ending, and the final episode showed the crew learning that the season was cut short. Captain Lee Rosbach is now revealing how he felt when he learned the news.
There were supposed to be two more charters aboard the My Seanna super yacht, which meant two more fat tips for the crew. Captain Lee Rosbach held a meeting with the crew to tell them that would not be the case. Rosbach and bosun Eddie Lucas appeared (virtually) on the Below Deck After Show to discuss the season and its dramatic ending. Captain Rosbach said:
I didn't see it coming. I'm going, this ain't good. This has got trouble spelled all over it — in capital letters.
A cancellation of this magnitude was the first of its kind for Below Deck. Sure, guests have cancelled in the past, but the crew simply awaited the next charter. However, the coronavirus pandemic made it necessary for the most of Season 8's crew to essentially abandon ship and fly home. According to the other crew members of Below Deck, the reaction to the news ranged from “shocked” to “elated” and “relieved” because of how rough the season was.
Chief stewardess Francesca Rubi’s totally blank look at the meeting said it all. Reflecting back, Rubi said she "was in shock," saying it was just "all ‘go, go, go.’" And from there, it was just a sudden "stop."
Season 8 of Below Deck weathered several drama storms. From homemade World War II mustard gas to drunken guests jumping off the boat, the crew never caught a break. Francesca Rubi and second-turned-third stew Elizabeth Frankini could never see eye to eye, which culminated in Frankini’s termination from the boat. Boat chef Rachel Hargrove quit and later came back. It was a mess that seemed to only get messier with each episode.
Bosun Eddie Lucas had a different perspective of the ending of Below Deck. He revealed that his reaction at the time was so far removed from coronavirus and so insulated to the gossip of the lower deck that he assumed Captain Lee Rosbach was gathering the crew to do a random drug testing. Perhaps that's the real reason for the crew’s deafening silence at the onslaught of the meeting. When he told the crew the season was over, Rosbach said:
That was like, you could have heard a gnat fart in a fully packed church. It got quiet, oh my god.
Alas, the seas of Below Deck drama are calmer now, but not for long. The crew will join Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live for a virtual reunion on February 22 at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
