Below Deck star Ben Willoughby has revealed that Season 11 nearly broke him and warned fans major trouble will hit the show soon.
Season 11 has already had its fair share of drama with the crew.
Ben was promoted to bosun this week. The promotion came after Jared Woodin was fired by Captain Kerry Titheradge, despite getting several chances.
Ben recently opened up about his new role, which, honestly, Below Deck fans knew was coming since the first episode of Season 11.
It won’t be smooth sailing at all for Ben, especially when it comes to dealing with Chief Stew Fraser Olender.
Speaking with Decider, Ben got candid about Below Deck as Season 11 nears the halfway point.
Ben Willoughby reveals Below Deck Season 11 ‘Almost broke’ him
The new bosun didn’t hold back, admitting it was beyond a tough season for Ben in his new role.
“Almost broke me. I think I’ve never dealt with so many frictions between people and departments. Stepping up into the bosun role was challenging, at times,” he expressed. “I’m very much a people person, but I had to have hard conversations that very much didn’t go in my favor a lot of the time.”
Ben wasn’t just dealing with managing a new team, which included a new hunky deckhand and his boatmance Sunny Marquis. This was the first time Ben had dated in his department.
Like with most of Ben’s relationships, things got tense with Sunny.
“The relationship side of things was very much on the back burner for me. It was very hard to explain that to her because she didn’t understand the position I was in. So, it was hard. Sunny and I went back and forth a lot while we figured things out,” Ben shared with the outlet.
That’s not the only relationship that was tested for Ben this season.
Below Deck star Ben Willoughby teases the back half of Season 11
It turns out that Ben being promoted to bosun has a dramatic impact on his relationship with Fraser and Captain Kerry.
We knew about Fraser because a trailer featured their tension, but Captain Kerry was new information.
“I felt a lot of friction with Kerry and Fraser specifically. I dare say that we’re not that close any more because of the season,” Ben spilled to Decider.
The new bosun didn’t say anything about what goes down with the captain or chief stew but hinted tough times are coming.
Ben Willoughby has a new job on Below Deck. As Monsters and Critics previously reported Below Deck fans sounded off on the promotion.
In other Below Deck news, Cat Baugh also left the charter season this week. Cat broke her silence after leaving, and the words she used to speak out were very interesting.
Be sure to tune in to find out what goes down between Ben, Captain Kerry, and Fraser.
Below Deck airs Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo. Seasons 1-11 are streaming on Peacock.