The Below Deck franchise continues to struggle, as Season 11 faces more rocky waters. The season got off to a rough start with two crew members leaving the St. David during a single episode. And that development was followed by some of the all-time worst charter guests of all time, including Jill Zarin of Real Housewives of New York fame. To make matters worse, the crew has also been dealing with tension amongst themselves. This week saw the deckhands fighting about who truly deserved the “lead deckhand” position, while the interior continues to clash with Chief Stew Fraser, who is quickly becoming the villain of this season. Now, another member has exited the show, and fans like myself are not happy.
A series of terrible charters should have bonded the crew, but it has only made things worse. It's not exactly the most ideal time for the St. David to deal with the loss of yet another crew member. So let's break down who departed in this week's installment, which you can stream now with a Peacock subscription.
Who Was Fired From The Crew And Why?
A new face in the Below Deck franchise, Chef Anthony Iracane instantly won the hearts of fans tuning in. Unfortunately, his charismatic charm wasn’t enough to protect his job when things started going sideways.
While the chef had a few bumps in the beginning, the taste of his food made up for poor timing. All that changed, however, when Jill Zarin stepped on board, making work for the underpaid crew members harder. Plagued with confusing preferences and not enough guidance from the interior, Anthony made a handful of mistakes that impacted the guests’ experience. Ultimately, he wasn’t able to bounce back and continued to flounder on the latest charter, once again becoming confused with guests’ preference sheets.
The state of his kitchen while he was cooking also became a moot point for Chief Stew Fraser Olender, who regularly found himself criticizing Chef Anthony instead of helping him out. In the end, it was a series of bad tips that most likely stemmed from poor food service that led Captain Kerry to fire Anthony this week.
How Fans Are Rallying Behind The Ousted Below Deck Star
This isn’t the first time a chef has been fired on Below Deck, but it is one of the first instances that I can remember myself and so many fans being so utterly upset about it. Did Chef Anthony make mistakes? Absolutely but, unlike the other departments on the super yacht, he’s the only one in charge of the kitchen. Cooking for 10+ people with different preferences, who all want to eat at the same time, and managing to keep the crew fed is a stressful job for one person to handle.
As X User AnnieDuff pointed out, the cook is also dealing with dyslexia, which made it more difficult for him to understand the preference sheets:
Ummm the chef did NOT need to be fired. #BelowDeck 🛥️😭 His food is gorgeous. He just needed better instructions ☹️ that he could receive and retain with his dyslexia. 🥺
As mentioned, in addition to the confusing and demanding nature of the charter guests, Chef Anthony also had to deal with being the only one in charge of his department. On top of that, he'd also never worked on a super yacht up to this point.
The larger reason why fans, like myself, are upset about the chef’s firing is because it could have been avoided. While it’s true that only one person is ever responsible for the cooking, in the past, the interior team has come to aid the chef during dinner services. The St. David crew never offered Chef Anthony any assistance and instead stood by and watched him go at it alone. I can’t even begin to count how many times Fraser stood ideally by, judging instead of rolling up his sleeves and helping. It's like X User @esteco2 pointed out:
'I’m feeling destroyed.' I know he made some mistakes. But I keep saying this every week. He didn’t get the support and help from the crew DURING dinner service like we have seen in all other seasons and franchises. I feel bad for Chef Anthony 🥺 #BelowDeck
Adding insult to injury is the fact that Chef Anthony was one of the nicest crew members on board the yacht. He never had any drama with the others and he mostly kept to himself. All he wanted to do was prove his abilities to himself and his deceased dad. Even after being fired, he returned to the kitchen to clean things up, proving just how amazing he is. Check out what user @NattyNiGhT posted:
What really kills me is not only does chef anthony get fired but his response is to finish cleaning the Galley before he leaves. that alone shows what a stand up guy and team player he is. He will be missed but i hope he comes back one day and wish him success #BelowDeck pic.twitter.com/iAJdGfB136April 23, 2024
With only a handful of episodes left, Chef Anthony should have been able to redeem himself. Thankfully, it seems like he’s not giving up just yet. In his confessional, after the firing, he admitted that this wouldn’t be the last time Below Deck fans see him. I hope he’s right!
The ship definitely won’t be the same without him, but fans should continue tuning in every Monday at 9 p.m. ET as new episodes continue to air as part of the 2024 TV schedule.
