Below Deck’s Captain Lee Finally Addresses Carl Radke Friendship Rift

Below Deck‘s Captain Lee finally broke down the events — including that never-released podcast episode — that led to his falling out with Carl Radke.

During the Wednesday, June 5, episode of his “Salty With Captain Lee” podcast, the captain, 74, and his cohost, Sam DeCavalcanti, discussed recent headlines about Carl’s split from Lindsay Hubbard playing out on season 8 of Summer House.

“I’m going to say something. Carl and I used to be close. I gave Carl an opportunity to be on the podcast and tell it as he saw it,” Lee recalled. “[If] there was a question he wanted taken off, we took it off. If there was something he didn’t want to answer, we didn’t put him on the spot.”

Lee recalled trying to create a safe platform for Carl, 39, following the broken engagement in November 2023, adding, “We didn’t hang him up to dry — it was a softball interview if I have ever seen one. Because I never would have done anything intentionally to put Carl on the spot.”

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After Lee announced that Carl would be a guest, however, things took a turn.

“Usually we release a tease on Tuesday, which we did. Then I got a phone call from Carl and he just went off on how I was taking advantage of him and trying to put him on the spot,” Lee claimed. “His publicist was there — as was mine. I was blown away. I don’t know what made him go off the way he went or what he was thinking.”

At the time, Us Weekly released an exclusive sneak peek of the podcast one day before the episode was scheduled to go live. In the two separate clips, Carl explained why he didn’t regret ending his engagement to Lindsay.

“I told him he didn’t want it aired so we didn’t,” Lee noted before his cohost added, “It put us in a very difficult position as well. I don’t think he really cared.”

Lee expressed frustration on Wednesday about how the situation went down.

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“I don’t know what he cared about. We didn’t air it because he asked us not to — or demanded that we not,” he continued. “We never aired anything about Carl and we never had a discussion about him before now. The only reason we are having now is because of the stuff I am reading. I don’t believe everything that I read but I do believe some that I see.”

Lee and Carl, originally became friends after losing loved ones to addiction. Lee’s cohost said on Wednesday that they “felt blindsided” by Carl’s behavior at the time.

“He was well aware of the conversation. It didn’t paint Lindsay in a bad light or him. It actually was complimentary in that time,” Sam said. “It was almost like [Dr.] Jekyll and [Mr.] Hyde. It came out of left field.”

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Sam went on to refer to Carl’s response as “erratic,” while Lee didn’t disagree.

“He got the best possible interview from anybody that he was ever going to get. I gave him the opportunity to tell his side of the story the way he wanted. He didn’t have to say anything he felt uncomfortable with,” he concluded. “He ended up hanging up on me after accusing me of deceiving him. So Mr. Radke, you were not deceived by me.”

Lee previously confirmed to Us that he hasn’t spoken to Carl recently, saying last month, “No, I haven’t. He’s been pretty busy.” Carl, for his part, has yet to address the rift.

Us Weekly has reached out to Carl’s rep for comment.