Below Deck‘s Kyle Stillie allegedly hooking up with a married guest while her husband was around caused lasting repercussions for the season — and a “thorough investigation” on board.
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Captain Kerry Titheradge confirmed that he took matters into his own hands once he was alerted to rumors that Kyle and a guest were intimate during a charter.
“There was an investigation done. I’m not too sure how much of that will be shown but I did a thorough investigation before I made my decision,” Kerry, 49, said, while teasing whether Kyle was fired for the situation. “It will be interesting to see what happens after I interviewed each of the crew members — including what was actually said behind [my back].”
Kerry noted that he could only get involved once he was made aware.
“I don’t get to see what’s going on Below Deck because I’m in the wheelhouse or I’m over here and I can’t be everywhere,” he explained. “I don’t micromanage. I allow my crew to grow and I like to be here and to help encourage people. There’s a lot I don’t see and there’s even more I don’t want to see.”
The Below Deck captain watched the official trailer for season 12 just like all of Us when it was released in April. Based on the sneak peek, Kyle was seen potentially hooking up with a guest at the beach in full view of his coworkers. In the footage, Kerry confronted Kyle, who wouldn’t confirm what happened. Kyle asked producers whether his comment about “f***ing” a guest whose husband was on charter was “a joke,” and an offscreen producer asked him the exact same question back.
“We’re going to see how it all develops on the show. If one of my staff is with a married person on the boat, they’re not going to stay on the boat,” Kerry teased to Us. “You’re breaking a boundary there that you can’t cross.”
Kerry acknowledged that prior to the drama, he had a good experience with Kyle, adding, “Kyle works very hard. He has a lot of respect. Last season, he was led astray by the bosun but I think he needs to keep it in his pants.”
The captain continued: “But he has a very strong work ethic and he’s a very good crew member to have around. He doesn’t have any ego. He gets the job done, he works hard and I want to see him grow in the ranks. I want to see him continue in the franchise. Let’s see if he can’t be a bosun one day — but maybe that’s over for him.”
Kerry was not the only one to weigh in on what’s still to come. Chief steward Fraser Olender told Us how “things were turbulent” already on St. David before Kyle’s extracurricular activity with the guest.
“I’ve done it before, so I can’t speak on [hooking up with a guest]. 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,” Fraser, 32, said earlier this month. “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. 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.”
From an “outside perspective,” Fraser said he could see why Below Deck fans might enjoy what is still to come, adding, “It’s so good. I’m like, ‘Wow.’ But in the moment, we wanted to crumble.”
Below Deck airs on Bravo Mondays at 8 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Peacock.
