Bravo Insider Exclusive!

Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive videos, sweepstakes, and more!

Sign Up for Free to View
The Daily Dish Below Deck

Captain Lee Reveals He Almost Didn't Appear on Below Deck

#BelowDeck's Stud of the Sea was originally supposed to be someone else.

By Laura Rosenfeld
Captain Lee Comes Down on the Deck Crew

It's hard to imagine Below Deck without Captain Lee Rosbach, but that was almost a reality. Captain Lee called in to chat on Reality Checked with Amy Phillips on SiriusXM's Radio Andy Thursday and described how he accidentally ended up on the show. "I was a captain on a yacht that Bravo had chartered for the show, for the original series, Season 1, and through one reason or another, the captain they had casted and hired that was going to do the show couldn't fulfill his obligation," Captain Lee explained. "They were getting close to getting ready to start filming, and they're scrambling, trying to find a captain. Things aren't going so well. And they said, 'Well, what about him?'"

How to Watch

Watch Below Deck on Bravo Mondays at 9/8c and next day on Peacock. Catch up on the Bravo App.

However, Captain Lee needed a little coaxing to climb aboard Below Deck once he got the invitation to appear on the show. "I wasn't overly thrilled about that," Captain Lee told Amy. "They asked [my boss, who was the owner of the yacht], 'Well, how does Lee feel about being on TV?' And my boss just looked him dead in the eye and said, 'He feels just fine about being on TV.' So they said, 'Well, Lee, how do you feel about it?' And I looked at my boss, and he just gave me a little nod, and I said, 'You know something, I feel just fine about being on television.' So it was purely an accident. Stars just lined up."

Even though there was a little hesitation on Captain Lee's part to join the show, he said he didn't become camera shy at all once filming began. "You know, it's a funny thing because the way that I run my boat when there's cameras on board and the way I run my boat when there aren't cameras on board doesn't change," Captain Lee explained. "So for me, I have no idea why it worked out this way, but there just wasn't anything different. I forgot right away that the cameras were there and went about my business."

Never change, Captain Lee. Never change.

What was Captain Lee doing before he went Below Deck? See for yourself in the pics, below.

 
Want the latest Bravo updates? Text us for breaking news and more!