Captain Lee Rosbach has addressed those retirement rumors (Picture: Bravo)
Below Deck fans can breathe a sigh of relief as Captain Lee Rosbach has addressed those retirement rumors.
The 73-year-old was forced to briefly leave filming midway through season 10 due to health issues, with Captain Sandy Yawn controversially stepping in as his replacement.
After a few weeks of recovery, the ‘Stud of the Sea’ reclaimed his rightful place in the wheelhouse in a recent episode, leaving his crew thrilled.
However, there has been speculation that the star, who has steered the Bravo series since the very beginning, would be retiring at the end of the current series, and that Captain Kerry Titheradge – from Below Deck Adventure – would appear in his absence.
Captain Lee attempted to set the record straight on Twitter, after a viewer questioned him on the claims.
‘Please don’t stop being on Bravo. We love you so, so much,’ they wrote.
To which he replied: ‘I haven’t retired, in spite of what’s been reported by” sources”.’
Fans were delighted by the update, rushing to praise the Below Deck OG in the comments and quote tweets.
‘Omg thank g, I would have missed @capthlr too much if he retired,’ a Twitter user said. ‘His style is unmatched!!!!’
‘Thank God!!! because Below Deck ain’t a below deck without you!,’ another agreed.
Captain Lee has helmed Below Deck since the show first set sail in 2013 (Picture: Bravo)
A follower enthused: ‘Well This is great news…’
One penned: ‘THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! I just tweeted wondering! Glad you answered my question!! Even happier that you aren’t retiring!’
A commenter added: ‘@capthlr you can’t retire! We love you- you make the show! And we would miss your awesome one- liners!!’
Captain Lee left many devastated when he revealed that he needed to step away for health issues, leading to Captain Sandy temporarily leading the way.
His crew were left in tears when he eventually came back, in scenes that aired at the beginning of the month.
‘It felt so wrong to leave,’ he said of his return in a confessional. ‘I’ll be goddamned if I wasn’t going to finish what I started.’
Holding a quick team meeting after his return, he told the gang: ‘As you can see, I am back and it’s great to be back here, it really is.
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‘Thank you all for cooperating with Sandy. She did us a solid coming in at the last second and bailing my ass out.
‘Well, I appreciate Sandy coming in and really helping us out,’ he concluded. ‘Let’s get after it.’
Below Deck airs on Mondays at 8pm ET on Bravo.
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The Stud of the Sea spoke out.