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How Is Below Deck's Eddie Lucas as First Officer? Captain Lee & Rachel Hargrove Weigh in

Below Deck's Captain Lee Rosbach and Chef Rachel Hargrove have differing opinions of First Officer Eddie Lucas. Get their thoughts and more exclusive scoop on season nine.

By Brett Malec Oct 22, 2021 6:00 PMTags
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When Below Deck season nine premieres on Monday, Oct. 25, Bravo fans will see former bosun Eddie Lucas stepping into the role of first office for the first time.

"It was definitely a much more difficult season for me, having a lot of pressure still kind of managing the deck crew as bosun but then also having the responsibilities of first officer and dealing with a lot more leadership responsibilities," Eddie told E! News exclusively, adding, "And dealing with issues with crew members and trying to make them happy but also make them understand the responsibilities of their job and the work at hand. And trying to put out the best possible product for the guests."

Eddie's leadership skills will be put to the test when My Seanna's fearless leader Captain Lee Rosbach misses some of the charter due to a health "condition." Captain Lee had nothing but glowing praise of his season nine first office and how he worked with interim Captain Sean Meagher

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"Eddie knew exactly what I expected of him, regardless of how he may or may not have gotten along with him [Captain Sean]," Captain Lee told E! News. "I expected Eddie to step up and get the job done and make the charter successful until I got there. I had every confidence in Eddie that he was going to accomplish that, regardless of any extraneous factors."

Laurent Bassett/Bravo

Lee continued, "I think he did outstanding. There's a lot of growing pains because Eddie had to go from being responsible for only one department to being responsible for all the departments as a first officer. It's his job to fill my slot if I'm not there, so there's a huge difference and a lot more responsibility that goes to it. It can be overwhelming at times, but I think Eddie stepped up to the plate and handled himself extremely well. The learning curve is pretty quick when you are doing back to back charters."

Chef Rachel Hargrove, who's had her fair share of past drama with Eddie, had a slightly different take on his leadership.

"It's really weird because for me as a first officer you do like planning and navigation so I didn't see that first hand, I don't know," she exclusively told E!. "I think that Eddie played his role and he was there and that was normal for Eddie to be there on this TV show as a character."

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Below Deck Season 9 Cast Photos

She added, "I'm professional, I can always work with anyone. I don't give a f--k. I work on a yacht and I make s--t tons of money hand over fist. So I can deal with Eddie."

As for new Chief Stew Heather Chase, Rachel gushed, "I love her, she's funny as s--t man. She's got a great personality and she's really good at her job. She's got this blasé dry humor and this resting bitch face. Like, she's actually funny as f--k and she's really good at her job. And she loves it and she's passionate."

Rachel had equally glowing praise for the rest of My Seanna's new season nine crew, sharing, "I actually loved every single cast member. I loved them. They were hilariousl Every crew member was funny and they had their own personalities and they were just them, quintessentially, unadulterated amazing."

Below Deck season nine premieres Monday, Oct. 25 at 9 p.m. on Bravo. Check out more of the season nine crew below!

(E! and Bravo are both part of the NBCUniversal family)

Captain Lee Rosbach
Captain Sean Meagher
Eddie Lucas (First Officer)
Heather Chase (Chief Stew)
Fraser Olender (Stew)
Jake Foulger (Deckhand)
Wes O'Dell (Deckhand)
Rachel Hargrove (Chef)
Jessica Albert (Stew)
Rayna Lindsey (Deckhand)
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