Captain Lee Reveals How He Found Out Below Deck Season 8 Would Be Ending Immediately

In the Below Deck Season 8 finale, we saw Captain Lee Rosbach deliver the news to the My Seanna crew that the final two groups of guests had cancelled and the charter season was officially over. Now, Captain Lee is providing more insight into how he first heard this shocking news before he told the rest of the crew.

Captain Lee recalled in the Below Deck After Show (clip above) that the news came "out of nowhere." "I didn't see it coming," he said, remembering when he got the message that the charter season was ending early. "I'm going, this ain't good. This has got trouble spelled all over it — in capital letters."

The Below Deck boss said that the entire crew was similarly shocked when he shared with them that the charter season was over. "That was like, you could have heard a gnat fart in a fully packed church," Captain Lee said. "It got quiet, oh my god."

Francesca Rubi echoed that sentiment in the Below Deck After Show. "We were in so much shock. I was even shocked. Like, we didn't know what was going on," she shared. "We were just running on adrenaline for the last five weeks. We were just all go, go, go, and then all of a sudden, it was just like, stopped."

Ashling Lorger said in the Below Deck After Show that she had a similar reaction to the charter season coming to an abrupt end. "Everyone's like, are you sure that's it? Like, that's it? Everyone's like, yep, like producers, everyone, like, cameramen, everyone," she recalled. "Like, yeah, this is it. We've got to go."

Though the charter season didn't end how they expected, the My Seanna crew still celebrated all they had achieved in Season 8 with one final party on the yacht during their last night together. 

However, Captain Lee didn't join in the fun, later explaining on Twitter why he was not in a celebratory mood that night. "It was sadness. I always like to finish what I start, and to have the season end this way I found sad, not just for me, but the whole crew," he tweeted on February 15. "Very uncertain times back then."

As Captain Lee headed off into the uncertainty that awaited him amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic at the end of the Below Deck Season 8 finale, he shared some words of wisdom on how we can all stay strong during these difficult times.

"This year was tough. You have tough years. Doesn't mean you toss the towel in. Pick yourself up, and you keep going, because people depend on you," Captain Lee said in an interview during the episode. "This isn't the end of the world, it's not going to be. We're tougher than this, we're better than this."

Want more Below Deck? New episodes air every Monday at 9/8c or catch up on every episode ever through the Bravo app.

Catch up with the My Seanna crew at the upcoming Below Deck Season 8 reunion. Check out an exclusive sneak peek courtesy of Bravo Insider, below.

Start Watching the Below Deck Season 8 Reunion Now!