Captain Kerry dishes on 2 dramatic “Below Deck” exits: 'Things were getting pretty hostile'

"That's probably the fastest departure in 'Below Deck' history."

Warning: This article contains spoilers for Below Deck, season 11, episode 7, “Cat's Out of the Bag.”

Below Deck's Captain Kerry Titheradge called Monday night’s episode a “corker” during a recent Instagram Live — and he wasn’t kidding.

During a single charter, two crew members left St. David; bosun Jared Woodin was fired and stew Cat Baugh left for personal reasons.

Tonight's episode, aptly named "Cat's Out of the Bag," saw Captain Kerry lowering the boom on Jared following a drunken altercation with deckhand Kyle Stillie. But the heated discussion in the crew mess wasn't the only reason Jared was let go. During a recent interview with Entertainment Weekly, Captain Kerry shed more light on why he dismissed the bosun.

Though he anticipated firing Jared, he wasn't prepared for what he calls "the fastest departure in Below Deck history" when Cat needed to leave the boat immediately.

Below, Captain Kerry shares how his mental health journey and being on Below Deck Adventure changed who he is today and greatly impacted how he handled the two crew departures.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: I feel like there's been kind of a buildup this season to what happened on this episode. We've seen Jared not know his distances and get very emotional, and then poor Cat's been having a hard time as well. How soon into the season did you know they might be struggling?

CAPTAIN KERRY TITHERADGE: Off the bat, like day one. The thing is, you can know it, but also you try to change the direction. There were other crew [members] I was concerned about too — and that's going to come out in future episodes, where we were able to work with them, where they were getting to a point of breaking as well. So I don't know. I think when you've gone through something pretty emotional, it makes you more aware of where people are at.

You shared your story with Jared and you really connected with him, so I want to talk about him first because he seemed to unravel quite quickly from that one phone call that he couldn't get through, and then it came to a head in the crew mess after Kyle spilled tobacco near the hot tub and Jared let him have it. We've seen crew members go crazy on the boat and party and scream and yell. How bad was the fight between Jared and Kyle that it woke you up?

I mean, it woke me up. Things were getting pretty hostile. Again, this happened a while ago, so there's only so much we can actually show [on air], but I was aware of where he was at. I put pressure on Jared and I do it with all my guys... it's a yacht. I know there's a TV show behind it, but it's a yacht and I have standards, and my standards are that I'm not waking up to a mess in the hot tub. And I'm nice enough to not go up there straight away and check. I've seen other episodes of Jared running around in the morning making sure [everything is cleaned up]. So I mean, that's pressure I've put on him, but that's the pressure I'd put on anybody to make sure it's right.

So things are getting wound up. And really, Kyle has tobacco up there, I mean, if I would've seen it up there, [Kyle] probably would've gone home. Because you don't do loose tobacco in a hot tub. That stuff gets on a teak, it gets on the paintwork. It'll stain. So [Jared] had a good reason to be doing what he was doing, but he wasn't in the right state to be dealing with it at that time.

I watched it again, and I don't see all those steps. I just hear this noise. I was really woken up earlier. I want the crew to have a good time, but they shouldn't be having a good time at my expense.

So did you know that night you were probably firing [Jared] the next day?

I was already thinking through where he was at. And the problem is when you're on your last warning, people don't usually get past a second warning and survive because there's too much pressure. And I can see him struggling. And I've got reports that he was drinking that night and I told him to stop the piss. You're going through a lot of s--- right now, mate. And there were more conversations than what we can show. We don't have enough time.

But there were more times I spoke with him about going through what he's going through and getting his head straight and being in the game and that alcohol is not going to help you make the right decisions. It's going to make things worse. And he told me that he would back off the booze, and that was from that first crew party. When I saw him break the glass, I left. I'm like, man, I want the crew to have their fun. But the other thing that people aren't fully aware of is my responsibility as a captain isn't just what happens on the boat. So if my crew is getting too drunk and they hurt themselves on the beach or falling out of a cab, that's my responsibility.

Do you think Jared could have been drinking a little on charter?

If I would've smelled it, he would've been off the boat faster than Cat was. So it never entered my mind that that was happening. What was happening is you hit the booze hard and then the next day you're not going to function as well. And what I wasn't aware of was Ben undermining him. So he had to constantly deal with being undermined, keeping his head cool. He [couldn't get through to] his daughter, the job, me... he had pressure from everywhere,

And you really tried to work with him. I also have to ask, what was the deal with his [Wi-Fi] signal? I noticed he was on the boat, he couldn't get through to his daughter, but then he was on land trying to get through.

I've seen a bit of chatter about that online because they see me talking to my kids and then him not. I'm on the bridge. He's trying to contact his daughter down in his room. It's like being inside a high-rise or in a basement. So that could address that issue. I offered him to use my phone more than one time to speak to his child. In the last episode, he had an iPhone and his regular phone beside him. I don't know whether he borrowed a crew member's phone or what, but maybe it was the other side. Maybe other things were happening in Alaska that weren't lining up. Do you know what I mean?

I will say that was one of the most graceful firings I've seen on Below Deck. He was being fired, but in the end, he left feeling okay. So kudos to you.

I was worried about him. I'm getting a little emotional thinking about it. I'm going back there. I've been in that low spot where I don't know if I can find a way out of this.

I've been there and what did I do? I quit my job and I came ashore and painted houses. I got out of there. I had to put the ego aside. I'm running a 300-foot yacht. I'm in the pinnacle of my career. I'm in the Maldives. I've always wanted to be here. I've been working so hard to get there, and I've got to take care of this. I've got to be there for my kids. How hard it can be? So if I never had been there and we'd go to the Captain Kerry of 10 years ago, you'd see a different person talking. I wouldn't be as gentle. I'd be pissed off and I would've made his mental health worse because I would've just drilled him to the ground. "You'd let me down. You had the opportunity. You keep f---ing up." You know what I mean? That was the way that I grew up in the industry. The boat doesn't change for you. You change for the boat. And a big part of me changing is not only my experience in that, but when I shot [Below Deck] Adventure, I was already on that train of mental health and stuff, but also able to see myself and have that opportunity to see [myself] from someone else's perspective,

And then to see behind the scenes how that's affected somebody in a positive or negative manner. So the show in itself has made me a better captain, a better partner, a better father, a better human being.

Well, it shows. Have you talked to Jared since? How's he doing?

I got with him before the first episode because I didn't know how they were going to portray him, and I wanted to make sure he was okay. Just let him know, look man, I know you're in a bad headspace. Got any problems, give me a call. I got with Cat, but Jared was in town, so he came to my house. We went and got a burger. I invited Jared to the watch party last weekend.

So he's doing well. Did Jared say that firing him was probably the best thing you could've done for him?

A hundred percent. A hundred percent. And he brought his dad to come to my watch party and his dad thanked me.

And then we have Cat. We don't know exactly what it was, but it seems like whatever happened was horrific. What was going on there?

I knew that she was having challenges by just seeing her move around. I'm surprised by how much trouble she was having at the job and how gracious Xandi was in training her. But it breaks my heart to see how much Cat was crying. And then she would come out and have to put a brave face on.

But she was really struggling. And as soon as I found out that she was in that bad place, I mean, there's no editing there. I'm bringing the port control. I'm ringing local Coast Guard. I'm ringing everybody. I could just see it in her face. I didn't need to know what was going on. It didn't matter what it was. To her, it was catastrophic. And that's something else I've learned on my journey is that it's real to that person who's going through it. It doesn't matter if it doesn't affect you or how insignificant it may seem. It's real to them.

That's probably the fastest departure in Below Deck history.

So how is Cat doing?

She's having a hard time seeing herself where she's at. But she said she's in a pretty good headspace. And I've shown her support — I say, look, if you need someone to talk to, I'm always here.

I know you jumped in once you were down two crew members. You're washing dishes and everything, so you were very cool about it. But were you freaking out that you lost two people in one day?

No, because freaking out doesn't get the job done. So don't get me wrong. There's a big... like, okay, Kerry, did you think this through? [Laughs] But it wasn't for me to think through. These two people were in a place where their minds weren't on the job because they were having some mental health issues that we couldn't take care of on board.

Catch all the Below Deck deck drama on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo. Captain Kerry promises the drama continues, teasing that despite newly appointed bosun Ben Willoughby's strong performance, he, too, may encounter rough waters.

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