Below Deck crew members and fans alike have noticed that it seems like Captain Lee Rosbach treats Kate Chastain differently than the other Valor yachties. Well, the Below Deck boss will be the first one to tell them that they're absolutely right.

"Kate deserves preferential treatment because she's earned it. It's simple," Captain Lee said in the Below Deck Season 7 After Show. "You don't get preferential treatment from me unless you earn it."

But Captain Lee and Kate don't only support each other at work; they are also "best friends," Captain Lee said in the above After Show clip. "Always going to be that way. I'm always going to have her back because she doesn't shy away from doing the right thing, and I'm such a firm believer in that," Captain Lee explained. "It may be uncomfortable, it may just make you feel like s--t, but you have to do it."

Captain Lee said he realized this about Kate when she came down from New York to Florida for his son's funeral after he passed away in July. "Is there a better friend than that?" Captain Lee said. "There aren't many people in the world that you can count on like that, that will be there when you say, 'I need.' And they go, 'I'm here.' They don't even say 'I'm here.' They just show up."

Captain Lee Rosbach Explains Why He Didn't Come Down on Kate Chastain in the Crew Mess

Kate, who was sitting next to Captain Lee during the After Show, stepped off the set after tearing up while the Below Deck boss was talking. However, Captain Lee continued to sing Kate's praises as a chief stew, friend, and human being.

"That's a side of her you'll never see again," he shared. "She's a really, really caring person. She's also that kind of an employee. I don't look at Kate as an employee. We're co-workers. She runs her department, I run mine, and she's the best there is."

So if anyone questions why Captain Lee seems to give Kate "preferential treatment" in the future, he'll be more than happy to explain. "That was one of the hardest things I've ever gone through in my life, and to just have her show up, take care of [my wife] Mary Anne, and be there for our family, not requested, just drop everything," he said. "And so yeah, does she get preferential treatment? F--k yeah. But not only because of that but just because she does her job well. All the s--t that she went through, and I didn't know anything about it, are you kidding me?"