Captain Lee Rosbach Addresses Below Deck Salary Claims

The Below Deck universe has become one of Bravo’s most popular entities on the network. Because of this, some former stars have publicly discussed their salaries. Now, Captain Lee Rosbach is discussing how much he made from the show, and in a way, he’s defending the salaries other stars of the various shows have gotten.

Rosbach, also known as ‘the stud of the sea’, joined the show in 2013. It was announced last year that he would not be returning for the next season of Below Deck. 

According to Heavy, Captain Lee took to a recent episode of his Salty With Captain Lee podcast to discuss salary and how it’s decided how much Below Deck stars make. For context, he is responding to a report that said the stars made between $5,000 and $6,000 per month. 

He said, “Do I think they make as much as the Housewives? No. But the Housewives for a long time carried Bravo. [Below Deck stars] got paid industry standard [for yachting] plus whatever else they negotiated with the network. Whatever that is.”

He continued, “When you first come in, you start at the bottom. Then you work your way up, and as you make yourself more and more valuable to the company, then you get paid more, and you request more.”

Captain Lee went on to say that he was satisfied with his pay and that he would never personally take a job that didn’t pay what he thought he was worth. 

He then explained a bit more about Below Deck salaries. He said, “I don’t know what they make. I am not privy to their salaries, but I know what they make in tips, and that is a nice chunk of change. The last season I did, we split up a quarter of a million dollars in tips [after six weeks].”

He added, “Think about it. $1,500 or 2,000 for a three-day charter? That is pretty good money.”

He then said, “I negotiate what I want and what I think I am worth. We either come to an agreement, or we don’t, and I leave.”

Fans of the Captain will be happy to know that he’ll soon be back on television. The former Below Deck captain will host a true crime show on the Oxygen network called Deadly Waters. The show is currently in production.