Below Deck‘s Kyle Stillie hooking up with a married guest — while her husband is on board — will change the direction of season 12.
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, chief steward Fraser Olender weighed in on the trailer teasing the awkward moment, saying, “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 recalled how “things were turbulent” already on St. David.
“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 teased. “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.”
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From an “outside perspective,” Fraser can see why Below Deck fans might enjoy what is still to come, saying, “It’s so good. I’m like, ‘Wow.’ But in the moment, we wanted to crumble.”
In April, Bravo released the official trailer for season 12 of Below Deck, which showed Kyle potentially hooking up with a guest at the beach in full view of his coworkers. In the footage, Captain Kerry Titheradge 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.
“[Kyle] is so mischievous and so badly behaved. But he’s a good guy at his core,” Fraser teased. “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.”
Fraser credited Captain Kerry for stepping in when necessary.
“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 hinted to Us. “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.”
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While teasing what fans can expect from season 12, Fraser didn’t rule out at least one person getting fired, adding, “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.”
He continued: “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 returns with a supersized premiere that airs on Bravo Monday, June 2, at 8 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Peacock.
