Entertainment

Captain Lee Secretly Wants To Be Besties With Kat

by Casey Rackham

Whether he likes it or not, the stoic and intimidating Captain Lee Rosbach from Below Deck is the show's father figure. As captain of Season 1's Honor and Season 2's Ohana, he's privy to the ins-and-outs of leading a crew of yachties, and, most importantly, has a vast amount of experience handling idiocy. As he so eloquently remarked in Season 1, "I have a low level of tolerance for stupid, and we've got a lot of stupid floatin’ around." (Honestly, that could pretty much be the show's tagline.) When someone steps out of line or does something unfathomably ridiculous — ahem, Andrew Sturby opening a porthole — Captain Lee takes charge with his trademark disappointed dad voice.

"I give [the crew] the same advice that I give new crew every year: Don’t do anything that would embarrass the boat, and don’t do anything that would embarrass yourself," Captain Lee said in an interview with Bustle. "And if you just follow those two things, things usually work out pretty good."

Unfortunately for Rosbach, making fools of themselves is the name of the game for the crew of Below Deck , especially when it comes to Kat Held. Throughout Season 1, a fan-favorite relationship on board was the one between Rosbach and the then-resident party girl with a knack for hysterical truth-bombs. But even though their captain-steward relationship mostly involved Held doing something uncouth and Rosbach reprimanding her, the captain has definitely harbored a soft spot for her.

"I see Kat putting forth a very concentrated effort to do the right thing, but still maintain that personality that makes Kat what she is," says Rosbach. "And the thing that I think the public likes about her, that I personally like about her, [is] that little wild streak she’s got in her... Basically, Kat is just a really good person, and does she need some direction every now and then? Sure, but who doesn’t?"

In fact, he enjoys her so much that, when asked which crew member he would most like to be stuck on an island with, he confidently picked Kat.

"I would take Kat," says Rosbach. "I’d have to find some humor in the situation that we’d found ourselves in, and if anyone could help me find the humor, I think Kat could."

And in case it wasn't clear why Kat could keep the Captain in stitches, he made sure to remind everyone.

"I thought Kat’s one liner concerning Andrew was pretty hilarious. I thought when [she said] 'He should have stayed in his mother’s belly just a little bit longer and cook some more,' I thought that was just great," says Rosbach. "That’s what I mean about Kat, she’s just so spontaneous with stuff like that, and I have no idea where it comes from, but I love it."

So, now we're all hoping for a Gilligan's Island-type spinoff starring Kat and The Captain, right? Bravo, we're counting on you.

Below Deck airs on Tuesdays at 9/8c on Bravo.

Image: Virginia Sherwood/Bravo (2); Reality TV Gifs