Below Deck star Fraser Olender has defended his leadership style amid backlash for how he treats Barbie Pascual on Season 11.
Fraser is no stranger to dealing with challenging stews on the hit-yachting show and facing criticism regarding his job.
On Season 10 of Below Deck, Fraser was scolded by Captain Sandy Yawn for trying to be friends with his crew instead of a leader.
Fraser doesn’t feel that way and has doubled down on his leadership style despite the Season 11 drama with Barbie’s attitude.
The chief stew recently spoke about his leadership style, defending his actions and explaining why he will never change.
There’s also some Barbie shade from Fraser, proving further these two do not work well together.
Below Deck’s Fraser Olender defends leadership style amid backlash over Barbie Pascual
Speaking with Express UK, Fraser didn’t hold back from standing up for himself and how he runs his department. Fraser admits he has had so many horrible bosses that he doesn’t want to be one. Plus, he wants to enjoy the experience.
“Listen, it’s six weeks of hell. I want to laugh, I want to have fun, I want everyone to feel supported and yes, I will always want to be friends with my crew, how dare people be like ‘no,’ get a life,” he shared with the outlet.
Fraser feels like he has found a way to still want to have the friendship approach while being firm and not letting his crew walk all over him. The chief stew will not tolerate being disrespected.
It’s one reason he and Barbie have clashed this season. However, he didn’t mention her name specifically during his chat with Express UK.
“If you are an a**hole to me as your leader in the job, when I just want the job to be done correctly, and you can’t deal with anything but your attitude and you being the center of attention, it’s going to go down badly,” Fraser spilled.
The Bravo personality went on to insinuate that he would like to speak with “said person’s previous employers.'”
While Fraser only considers Barbie an interior issue on Below Deck, fans know he has another one in Stew Cat Baugh.
Fraser Olender has another Below Deck problem in Cat Baugh
There’s no question that Barbie has an attitude. Barbie even admitted that during her appearance on Watch What Happens Live.
However, Cat has become a different problem, and Fraser isn’t dealing with it too well. As Monsters and Critics previously reported, Fraser and Captain Kerry Titheradge were called out by Below Deck fans for coddling Cat, who frankly isn’t good at her job.
The preview for next week’s episode teases Cat breaking down crying again and Stew Xandi Olivier getting frustrated over having to redo Cat’s work yet again.
Only time will tell if Fraser Olender has to fire Barbie Pascual, something he’s definitely down for, or Cat Baugh this season. Keep tuning in to find out if this interior crew can get it together or not.
Speaking of people getting it together, word on the rest is Bosun Jared Woodin gets fired, and you can read all about that here.
Below Deck airs Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo. Seasons 1-11 are streaming on Peacock.