Below Deck’s season with ‘Record Number of Layoffs’ loses another crew member
Below Deck lost another crew member after a disappointing charter ended with a lackluster tip.
During the Monday, April 22, episode, Captain Kerry Titheradge realized he needed to let Chef Anthony Iracane go. The decision was in response to various complaints from the guests about Anthony’s performance.
The chef wasn’t reading preference sheets carefully, he didn’t cater to the primary’s dietary restrictions, he delayed the beach picnic by not cooking the food ahead of time and he forgot to prepare meals that he promised to the guests.
“To make amazing food, I need to be very happy and I’m very sad,” Anthony admitted in a confessional at the beginning of the episode. “So, my food sucks.”
Before the charter came to an end, Fraser Olender grew visibly frustrated with how Anthony’s mistakes were affecting the interior crew.
“This is not just affecting my team. It is affecting the boat and I just know this tip is going to be s–t,” Fraser told the cameras. “Most of my time at the moment is spent with Chef, begging him to do his job correctly and keeping him in line. There’s just no space for me to be looking after him as much as I am. I don’t have time for that.”
The guests subsequently left a small tip, which Fraser called “embarrassing,” adding, “Is it because of the food? I am going to say yes.” Fraser told Kerry that Anthony didn’t consider preferences, and his meals lost “any sense of super yacht standard” to them.
Later in the episode, Kerry told Anthony that he was being let go.
“Every day that Anthony has been on the boat, I have had to give him guidance. And I’m fine with that if you learn from everything that we talk about,” Kerry explained. “If one person can’t run at the same speed as the rest of us, we have to leave him behind.”
Kerry attempted to end on a good note with Anthony.
“I think you are an incredible chef. Your food is absolutely amazing. But you are starting to nosedive,” the captain noted. “You don’t see where things are going wrong with the service? For a start, crew food was not a priority. The food has been late. You are making mistakes and not being prepared. I am seeing guests not being satisfied with what you are doing. This is not the environment for you. You are not flourishing.”
Anthony, however, didn’t think he was doing a bad job, replying, “I don’t know what you are talking about. I know I made a little mistake but I am human. Then why do people everyday tell me I am the most amazing chef in the world? So either people [are] full of s–t or …?”
In response, Kerry pointed out that Anthony was slacking in other areas.
“There is more to being a chef on a super yacht — with the pressures we have on this boat — than being an amazing chef,” Kerry said. “If I keep you any longer, I will set you up for disaster. I am doing you a favor. I have a lot of respect for you.”
Kerry added: “It is heartbreaking. I do not like this at all. The crew started to notice that the chef was failing us. If I kept this up any longer, morale would be terrible and I can’t have that.”
Anthony was determined to use his first firing as a learning opportunity.
“I love everyone and I’m going to miss them so much. The only thing I need is cooking for people. It is the only thing that makes me happy,” he shared. “I am going to come back like a crazy motherf–ker. I’m going to be back in the game for sure.”
Anthony is the third crew member to leave St. David after Jared Woodin and Cat Baugh. Before season 11 premiered on Bravo, Kerry teased several cast exits, telling Us Weekly in February, “I think we may have reached the record of firings this season.”
Fraser, meanwhile, hinted what fans can expect from the rest of the cast. “A few people turned up for season 11,” he shared. “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.”
Below Deck season 11 airs on Bravo Mondays at 9 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Peacock.
