‘Below Deck’: Captain Lee Says Ashton Pienaar Is Still on His Blacklist of Crew Members

Despite reversing course on a few crew members, Captain Lee Rosbach from Below Deck said there’s still no way he’d consider working with bosun Ashton Pienaar again.

Pienaar has seemingly done some soul searching since last season. He posts workout and clean living photos on Instagram. But Rosbach is not ready to consider asking Pienaar to be on his crew. A fan asked if he’d reconsider if Pienaar got his drinking under control. But Rosbach’s response was, “Nope.”

One crew member he might consider working with again is deckhand Rhylee Gerber. He admitted that he probably wouldn’t work with Gerber again during the season 7 reunion. But recently said he would opt to work with Gerber over former stew Kat Held.

Why won’t Captain Lee work with Ashton Pienaar?

So what did Pienaar do that has made Rosbach take such a hardline on him? Pienaar targeted chief stew, Kate Chastain, throughout the season and aggressively lashed out at her after a night of heavy drinking. He viciously punched the inside of a van door while the crew traveled back to the yacht and argued with Chastain on the boat. She walked off the boat, announcing she had quit.

Although Chastain returned, she tried to keep her distance from Pienaar. He also led the male deckhands on a misogynist smear campaign against Gerber and tried to get her fired.

While he apologized for his behavior during the reunion, Rosbach and Chastain did not think his apology was sincere. Rosbach expressed his anger with Pienaar in a blog post during the previous season.

“You stated that you were going to be the bigger person and apologize but I didn’t get the sense that you thought you really should have,” he wrote. “But the offended party, Kate, came to the wheelhouse, took the heat, and not once did she attempt to throw you under the bus. Even though you thoroughly deserved it. No, she covered for your ass. Then you have the gall to say, ‘when you were younger you had a temper’. News flash Ashton, you still have a temper, especially when you get black out drunk.”

Captain Lee takes talent into consideration too

Although Pienaar’s job performance was seemingly satisfactory, he probably wasn’t the best bosun Rosbach has ever employed. However, despite her explosive exit and re-entry, Rosbach said he’d definitely work with chef Rachel Hargrove again.

Rosbach was also asked what was his favorite dish cooked by a yacht chef. His reply, “Rachel’s French Toast is over the top.” Rosbach, the crew, and viewers were stunned when Hargrove became so agitated with upcoming guests’ preference sheet requests she quit on the spot. But then told Rosbach to “go f**k yourself” and hurled other expletives, which included flipping off a cameraman as she made her departure.

She left the crew high and dry, which almost forced Rosbach to cancel the upcoming charter. Thankfully for the crew, she returned the next day and was extremely contrite. Hargrove then proceeded to knock the entire charter out of the park, impressing the guests and Rosbach.

“I’m a big fan of 2nd chances and redemption. This one is no different for me,” he replied to a fan on Twitter about why he allowed her to return.