Below Deck season 9 wasn’t exactly a stellar iteration of the flagship show of the Below Deck franchise. A lot of fans criticized the season for being too negative, too boring, and too cliché. So, fans are eager to watch Below Deck season 10 in hopes the series returns back to tip-top form. Bravo released the Below Deck season 10 trailer on October 14, 2022, at BravoCon.
Here’s everything you need to know about Below Deck season 10’s returning cast, new crew members, filming location and dates, release date, the new superyacht used and more.
Below Deck Season 10’s Returning Cast & Captain Lee Replaced By Captain Sandy Evidence
Every new season brings surprises on who returns and the stars who don’t get called back by production. In Below Deck Season 10, a few crew members return from season 9.
Captain Lee Rosbach comes back for Below Deck season 10. The 72 year-old hasn’t had the best bout of health recently, however. At the end of 2021, the Stud of the Sea underwent spinal surgery for severe spinal stenosis. Before that, Captain Lee joined the crew late for filming of season 9 because of his AFib heart condition, receiving heart surgery prior. Now there are rumblings Below Deck Med‘s Captain Sandy Yarn replaces him mid-charter season in Below Deck season 10. The trailer further confirms this theory as it appears Captain Lee leaves the charter season early due to health problems. “My mind’s there. My body’s there, my body just won’t cooperate,” he says in the preview. “So I made a decision…” he then says as his crew looks saddened and shocked.
A Below Deck superfan on Reddit shared an Instagram story screenshot on February 17, 2022, that appears to show Captain Sandy on the season 10 superyacht. Another Below Deck fan also posted another Instagram story showing Captain Sandy at the Below Deck season 10 filming location in the Caribbean. So its all-but-confirmed Captain Sandy takes over for an ailing Captain Lee.
Other cast members confirmed to be returning are Chef Rachel Hargrove and Second Stew Fraser Olender. The two were spotted by a fan on a night out at a restaurant while filming alongside new crew. Fraser previously said he was working as a chief steward on a yacht at the end of 2021. It’s now confirmed he’s been promoted to Below Deck season 10’s Chief Steward.
Guess who’s sat right opposite the Below Deck team from belowdeck
Although Chef Rachel recently said she quit Below Deck and hates the Bravo network, she had already filmed season 10. The star chef also recently said on a podcast fans will have to wait and see if she’s “edited” out of the upcoming season for speaking ill of the show and reality TV network. Judging by the preview, which includes Rachel in it, and how important the chef is to the show, fans can expect to see a lot of Chef Rachel this season.
Release Date of Premiere For Below Deck Season 10 & New Crew Members
Below Deck season 10’s official premiere date is Monday, November 21 at 8 PM EST. But fans already bored with Below Deck Med season 7 can tide themselves over starting on Tuesday, November 1st when new spinoff Below Deck Adventure premieres.
The Below Deck season 10 cast promise to bring a lot of drama this charter season.
Below Deck superfan and Redditor sleuth jcmsuncrest successfully identified some of the new crew members long before Bravo released the new cast’s names.
The platinum blonde at dinner is former American Idol contestant Camille Lamb. In a now disappeared Instagram story from Fraser’s account, she was hanging with him poolside. According to Bravo, she’ll work both as a stew and deckie.
Fans also figured out early that one of the deckhands is Tony Duarte.
Fans also figured out the red-head stew at the dinner is UK aesthetician Hayley De Sola Pinto. Her bio says she’s a “Temp Yacht Stew”.
Super sleuth jcmsuncrest also identified Below Deck season 10 stew Alissa Veronica.
Another new crew member is deckhand Katie Glaser, whose Instagram is private. Below Deck Season 10 may get a Chief Stewardess named Leigh-Ann, too. She followed all the new crew at the same time as they followed each other and her bio says she’s a chief stew. Bravo hints Fraser struggles in his new role as chief stew, so could he potentially get fired?
Bravo also confirmed the rest of the cast, including new stew Alissa Humber. Deckhand Ben Willoughby and Bosun Ross McHarg are also joining the Below Deck season 10 crew.
The new crew look to bring a lot of boatmances to show, and lots of drama, if the trailer is any indicator.
Below Deck Season 10’s Filming Dates & Location, New Superyacht On Show
A Below Deck fan claims they spotted the show’s production aboard superyacht St David going through customs in Rodney Bay, Saint Lucia. The Bravo preview for season 10 confirms that Saint Lucia is the location for Below Deck season 10. The small Caribbean island nation only has a population of 165,000, which is actually much bigger than the 40,000 population of season 9’s Caribbean location, Saint Kitts.
The photo was posted on February 9, 2022. The Instagram accounts of Captain Lee, Fraser and Rachel all went pretty dormant starting around this time period, too. It’s likely filming started in the middle of February. The crew dinner photo was posted in February 25, likely near the start of the charter season. Each Below Deck season is six weeks long, so that would mean the charter season ended in late March. Fraser seems to have confirmed this as he took pictures vacationing in Saint Lucia from March 21. On that day, a Below Deck cameraman said they had wrapped up filming.
After the dependable and luxurious My Seanna was sold and renamed by its new owner, production appear to have found a new superyacht for Below Deck season 10. Motor yacht St David is a bigger 197 feet long and can fit 12 guests and 11 crew. The Below Deck season 10 superyacht can also go 11 knots at cruising speed, or 12.6 MPH.
Eddie Lucas, Heather Chase & Rayna Lindsey Not Casted In Below Deck Season 10
OG decky Eddie Lucas will not be back for season 10. The Below Deck star told the New York Post that production didn’t even give him the courtesy of letting him know he wasn’t coming back and bashed Below Deck cast pay. Below Deck season 9 co-star Rayna Lindsey also will not be returning, which is no surprise after she bashed the network for it’s handling of the N-word controversy and called the show fake.
Chief Stew Heather Chase isn’t the blonde in the above crew picture. She isn’t returning despite rumors. Chef Rachel and Heather shared shots in the Bahamas in April. But that was after filming had ended in a different location and it appears the pair just ran into each other. However, some fans are speculating she may star in the new spin-off, Below Deck Adventure, which is set off the coast of Norway. Some fans wanted Heather edited out of the show after she said the aforementioned racial slur in front of Rayna. Regardless, Heather is still working as a chief stew alongside her bestie co-star Kaylee Milligan.
Wes O’Dell has been busy captaining his own sailboat and dating Below Deck Sailing Yacht‘s Gabriela Barragan. Lead Deckhand Jake Foulger has been dealing with mental health issues, although he’s doing better these days, and he said he has no interest in returning.
Fans can find out what happened to the rest of the Below Deck season 9 cast here.
Below Deck fans can also find out everything they need to know about new spinoff Below Deck Adventure here.
For similar cast and filming details on Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 4 go here.