BELOW DECK What is Captain Lee’s ‘medical issue?’ Is it COVID?

For the second season in a row, Below Deck will be starting off without its fan favorite salty sea skipper due to a medical issue!

Captain Lee Rosbach was delayed in Season 8 after a nasty fall while getting out of the shower resulted in multiple injured ribs and a hospital visit. This season, Captain Lee is M.I.A. once again when the crew members arrive, and once again it is due to a medical issue.
 
First officer Eddie Lucas is the first crew member to board My Seanna, and he is greeted on the bridge by Captain Sean Meagher. As Eddie and Captain Sean introduce themselves, Eddie shares some information about Captain Lee’s absence.

“Lee called me in the beginning of the season letting me know he’s going to be a little late,” Eddie explains. The scene then cuts to a flashback of a video call between Captain Lee and Eddie from the week before.

“I had a little medical issue,” Captain Lee explains vaguely. Eddie asks if everything is alright. “I’m just waiting for the doctors to clear me,” Captain Lee assures him. “In the meantime, Captain Sean, the delivery captain, he’ll be down there to start the charter off.”
 
Editors then cut to a solo interview segment with Eddie. “I swear to god, if he slipped in the shower again I’m gonna — oh my god!” he exclaims, with at least a little bit of humor.

That’s pretty much all we know about Captain Lee’s “little medical issue” from the Below Deck Season 9 preview clips. However, Captain Lee has done some interviews to promote the new season and he revealed a little bit more. But only a little bit.

“I am much better,” Captain Lee told E! News back in August. “The timing was mainly screwed up. Because we have such a tight shooting schedule, it was imperative that the guests’ charters start and end on time so it didn’t have a domino effect and impact every charter after that.”

Even though Captain Lee didn’t reveal too much about what the medical condition was, he did clarify something that it wasn’t. He assured E! News that the issue “was not related to COVID at all.”

As disappointed as Below Deck fans will assuredly be without Captain Lee, no one was more disappointed about the delay than he was. “It really felt good to get back on the water,” he told E! News. “When I finally got onboard, I was the happiest guy in the world.”

Captain Lee also said that his return won’t be all that fans should look forward to this season. “It was a totally unique year,” he revealed. “It’s unlike any other season that we’ve had, and I really enjoyed it.”

Below Deck Season 9 premieres tonight at 9/8c on Bravo, and can also be streamed on Peacock.

Asa Hawks is a writer and editor for Starcasm. You can contact Asa via Twitter, Facebook, or email at starcasmtips(at)yahoo.com