Captain Lee Rosbach and Chef Ben Robinson from Below Deck started to develop a turbulent relationship after filming season 1 of the series. Viewers met the captain and the chef during Below Deck season 1 while filming around the waters of Sint Maarten in the Caribbean. Captain Lee, who was the first-ever Below Deck captain, met the fellow deckhands and stewards who were excited to begin this new journey on the Bravo series.
The show immediately became a hit on the network and has since gone on for nine seasons. Other than the original Below Deck doing so well on Bravo, the show has aired two spin-off shows: Below Deck Mediterranean and Below Deck Sailing Yacht. While these shows might all be different, some things are always the same across all three shows: the drama. Whether it’s drama between the crew member or the charter guest, Below Deck always delivers.
Nonetheless, some of the most intense drama may have occurred off-screen with Chef Ben and Captain Lee. During a recent episode of the podcast Side Piece with Melissa Pfeister, Chef Ben, who has a long dating history, opened up about his relationship with Lee during and after his time on Below Deck. Ben admitted that he and Lee had a great relationship during season 1 despite Lee’s hatred towards the rest of the crew. “Honestly, Lee and I had a great relationship,” Ben recalled on the podcast. “I think we had a great relationship for season 1. [But] I think our relationship kind of started dwindling a bit as the seasons and that franchise expanded.” The former reality star began comparing their feud to that of rock bands, who tend to clash once they reach a high level of fame. “It’s like Slash and Axl Rose,” Ben joked.
Ben believes the source of their turbulent relationship was caused by Ben’s crossover to Below Deck Mediterranean season 1. “I think they felt slightly jilted when I went over to the Med,” Ben, who dated Emily Warburton-Adams, said. “Everyone wanted that. I mean obviously, Kate [Chastain] and Lee would have loved to have come and joined me over in the Med. And there were probably some misgivings there.” However, at first, Ben didn’t even realize the other Below Deck OG’s were jealous of his new role and actually wished they headed to the Med with him. Nonetheless, Ben enjoyed his season and a half on the spin-off, even favoring Captain Sandy Yawn over Lee. Ben feels Lee has more of an “old-school” approach to being a captain while Sandy is a lot more hands-on with her crew. While Ben believes both methods are good and simply different, he would rather work under Captain Sandy again over Captain Lee if he returned to the Bravo series.
Overall, Ben believes he and Lee’s turbulent relationship was caused by Ben’s cross over to Below Deck Med. The addition of fame to their working relationship became a huge point of contention between the two, and Ben didn’t even realize it until later. Nonetheless, Ben’s Below Deck days are long behind him and doesn’t plan on mending his and Lee’s relationship anytime soon.
