Bravo fans will soon have a new season of Below Deck to rant and rave about. The trailer for the season has been out for weeks, and now Chief Stew Fraser Olender is opening up about not only the direction of the series but also how the actions of Kyle Stillie will change the show.
The new season of Below Deck will feature Kerry Titheradge returning as the captain, and the only other familiar faces will be Fraser and Kyle. This installment will take place in Sint Maarten.
Recently, Fraser sat down for an interview with US Weekly, where he discussed what fans can expect from season 12. Notably, he mentioned how Kyle hooked up with a married guest whose husband was also aboard the ship. According to Fraser, “I’ve done it before, so I can’t speak on [hooking up with a guest].”
The Below Deck star went on, “What is a hard no is on charter, and what is a hard no is potentially engaging in something whilst their married significant other is also around.”
As expected, this action by Kyle and the guest led to other problems for the crew. Fraser then said, “It was definitely [the most explosive thing I have been a part of]. Because this situation then was the catalyst of so many other problems.” He added, “And this really did spiral into something that no one saw coming. So it’s the beginning of the end. It’s so good, though.”
He then reflected on the dichotomy of this being a show that’s for entertainment, but it’s also their real lives. According to Fraser, “It’s so good. I’m like, ‘Wow.’ But in the moment, we wanted to crumble.”
About Kyle, Fraser said, “[Kyle] is so mischievous and so badly behaved. But he’s a good guy at his core. When I saw him, I was just so happy. I mean, he was wearing flip-flops, which wasn’t ideal in the first scene, but I saw past it.“
The trailer shows part of Captain Kerry’s confrontation with Kyle over hooking up with the married guest. Fraser praised his leadership, saying, “He definitely responded in a way in which he needed to — and this was not a joke. So I’m glad he did what he did when he did it.”
He went on, “Captain Kerry will forgive 100 percent as long as he knows your intention. If your intention is in the right place, then that man has got you. And Kyle’s a good person. He was following someone else’s leadership, and he was hanging around the wrong people last season.”
He then teased the season as a whole, saying, “There are firings. There are hirings. There are disasters left, right, and center. But I cannot tell you enough how dramatic and how fun this season is. It is nonstop.”
Fraser went on, “I was so excited to get into this season. I think I’ve grown so much since I first started out on the show — and you never know what you’re going to get as a crew. But I just wanted to make sure that, out of any season, this one is where I wanted to bring my crew to the best of their ability. I wanted harmony and I wanted love and friendship and peace amongst all the madness. I think we succeeded.”
Below Deck season 12 begins June 2 with a supersized episode on Bravo. Fans can stream the episode the next day on Peacock.
