You won’t find a cooler head than Captain Kerry Titheradge. After impressing Bravo fans with his calm demeanor and roguish Aussie wit during the one-season wonder Below Deck Adventure, Titheradge was the perfect choice to man the helm for the Below Deck flagship series last year. Now in his second season aboard the Motoryacht St. David, Titheradge is settling in nicely, with franchise favorite Chief Stew Fraser Olender by his side. Under their watch, the yachties of St. David enjoyed a charter season exploring the waters and the islands of Anguilla, St. Barths and St. Maarten. “Fraser and I, we have a friendship off camera and on board, but we’re very professional,” explained Titheradge. “I want the boat to elevate and he wants to elevate. The only way we can achieve that is to work together.”
Olender proved once again he’s the perfect yachtie for the job when the local authorities had to be called to the vessel due to an incident with a charter group. “I’ve never, ever had to call the police to a boat before,” said Titheradge. Complicating things further was the language barrier Titheradge faced while dealing with policement who spoke only French. Luckily, Olender was there to translate. “You’ve got an Australian captain talking to a British guy who’s then speaking French to the locals, and then they’re speaking French back to him and he’s speaking English back to me. There was a lot going on,” remembered Titheradge with a laugh.
Though, not all the crew members were as dependable as Olender. Titheradge had his hands full with returning deckhand Kyle Stillie, who may or may not have hooked up with a guest during the charter. “He put me in a very difficult situation because I will not put up with that on my vessel,” said Titheradge sternly. Titheradge also had a moment with Chef Lawrence Snowdon, who crumbled under the pressure of cooking on a malfunctioning stove in the galley during production. “My encouragement to him was, you’ll get through this, just give it time,” remembered Titheradge. “It’s a little daunting when you have the cameras around you.”
Titheradge stopped by the DECIDER studio to talk about the new season, dish on the new yachties, and tease what’s to come.
DECIDER: You’re back onboard the Motoryacht St. David this season! How did she handle the second time around?
CAPTAIN KERRY TITHERADGE: Yes, we’ve got St. David back again. The vessel had a few issues the previous season, and this season, there are a few more that we’ll find out about[laughs]. Very challenging this season. Though, my biggest challenge of the season was getting through that bridge in St. Martin.
The Season 12 trailer begins with you contacting the maritime police about what I assume is an unruly charter group. Had you ever had to do that in your yachting career?
I’ve never, ever had to call the police to a boat before. I’ve had to steer them away when the music’s too loud, but I’ve never had to call them to the boat. This for me is a first time. I know you can’t give anything way, but what can you tell me about that incident? [Laughs] It was very elevated. The situation was handled very well by my crew. We tried very hard to manage a situation without having to involve the police, but I got to a point that, for the safety of the crew and the vessel and the other charter guests and me, it had to happen.
Fraser told me he had to speak with the local authorities in French to explain the situation. Did he give you a debrief of how it went?
Imagine this. You’ve got an Australian captain talking to a British guy who’s then speaking French to the locals, and then they’re speaking French back to him and he’s speaking English back to me. So yeah, there was a lot going on [laughs]. It was amazing to have Fraser there to be able to translate what I needed.
You and Fraser are proving to be a real dream team. How has he grown as a Chief Stew in the time you’ve worked with him?
The thing I love about Fraser is that he self reflects, and he’s always trying to improve. He’s not one of these people who blame others for where he’s at. He looks at ways of going forward. Fraser and I, we have a friendship off camera and on board, but we’re very professional. He doesn’t mix the two, which is easy to do. I want the boat to elevate, and he wants to elevate. The only way we can do that is to work together
He told me you’re very good at re-aligning him. Do you agree?
Yeah, I’m surprised at how well I do [laughs]. Though, Fraser receives it well. So, if you have an employee who can receive constructive criticism and use it to improve, you’re golden.
You’ve got a rowdy, but clearly hard-working group of yachties this season. Were you pleased with the CVs you were given?
Yes, I got quite a mix of CVs. There were those that I expected to survive and those that I didn’t expect to survive…I was totally wrong.
What a tease! Who initially stood out to you?
I’ve got to say that Jess is incredible on deck. She just knew where to be at all times. She’s funny, she’s eager, and she gave all the boys a good run for their money.
In the Season 12 trailer, we do see that you have to let someone go. Is that the hardest part of a Captain’s job?
It really is. Earlier in my career, when I let people go, it was because they were not achieving. I would be disappointed in their performance. On the show, it’s not about that. It’s just, this is not the right place for you at this point in time. There’s no yachting like yachting on Below Deck. It puts the crew in a pressure cooker. It’s stressful. Many things influence your day that you have no control over. So, when I let somebody go, it was out of compassion.
I was really pleased to see Kyle Stillie back for a second season. In his confessional, he expressed how much he wanted to prove to you that he wasn’t a “fucking dickhead.” Did he prove that to you this season?
He proved to me that he’s a dickhead [laughs]. Kyle is an incredible worker. He really is. He gets the job done, but he’s got to keep it in his pants.
It seems that he may or may not have hooked up with a guest during charter. What can you say about that?
He put me in a very difficult situation because I will not put up with that on my vessel.
I want to get into the Season 12 premiere. After watching it, I am very concerned about Chef Lawrence. How quickly did you realize he was having a tough time?
Straight away. Last season, we had Chef Anthony and he had issues that I didn’t catch until it was too late. So, this season, I really wanted to support this chef as much as I could. I saw from the very start that Chef Lawrence was struggling, but he has amazing food. I gave him a lot of attention to help him succeed through the rest of the season.
It’s never a good thing when production gets involved. You headed right down to the galley once you heard what was going on. What advice did you give him?
With this show, we think we know what we’re getting ourselves into, but we don’t [laughs]. This is my third season within the Below Deck franchise. At first, it’s a little daunting when you have the cameras around you. My encouragement to him was, you’ll get through this, just give it time. You’re in an environment that you’re not familiar with.You have the talent; you’ve just got to calm down, mate. It’ll all be fine.
Bosun Caio Poltronieri seems like a great guy, and I liked that he got to the yacht early to work out communication issues before leaving the harbor. What were your initial impressions?
Caio, what an amazing bloke. He has incredible energy. I love the man. We got him in early because of the bridge. There’s a big deal getting in and out of the harbor because of it. As you saw, we start the first charter outside of the bridge, so I needed to get him there early. He showed up and we smashed it.
He makes a rookie mistake by leaving the charter guests’ bags on the dock. What did you make of that?
I thought I had a good poker face, but then I watched the preview and it’s clear I did not [laughs]. I was not very happy about that. Of all the things you could leave in the dock… just not the guests’ bags.
Do you have an MVP for the season you could share?
I don’t want to give too much away, but there were two people, interior and exterior, that were tied for me.
Who should we being keeping an eye on?
Keep an eye on Soléne.
This is your third time on our TV screens. Have you changed, if at all, as a captain since joining the Below Deck franchise?
Absolutely. I’m in a unique position where I can take a good hard look at myself because I actually see myself on camera. I’ve seen how I talk to people and what happens to the people once they leave the wheelhouse after I’ve had a chat with them. I now have an insight on how powerful my words can be. I learned I need to be more careful with how I talk to my crew. I need to support them to do better.
You’re also a wonderful father! What do your kids make of the show?
So when I did Below Deck Adventure, my kids were very excited about it. But now they’re 15 and 13, so they’re a bit over it [laughs]. When people stop me in the street to talk about the show, they’re more like, “oh, dad, again?” It’s all in good fun.
What can you tease about the rest of the season?
The trailer you saw is just 3 minutes of 12 weeks of TV. Things are going to get more and more intense with more and more drama. We have some extremely difficult guests and the crew hasa lot of challenges, but by the end, they all pull it together, and I’m super proud of them.
Below Deck airs Mondays at 8pm ET/PT on Bravo
Read the full article here
