Fraser Olender is stepping up in a major way in Below Deck season 10. The cast member becomes the first male chief stew in Below Deck franchise history when the show returns on November 21. HollywoodLife spoke EXCLUSIVELY with Fraser about his exciting promotion.
“I worked my butt off in season 9. I always just wanted to get to the top. I still do in everything that I do,” Fraser said. “I think the only way of doing that is showing true passion and hard work, and to have been asked back and with that promotion, honestly, was such a moment for me of pride. I still can’t really believe it. But I was so nervous. The whole season I was so nervous, and it nearly broke me, but I kept at what I knew how to do best and came out of it alive.”
Fraser will be working alongside the beloved Captain Lee as they set sail. Fraser admitted that “coming back with Captain being my OG captain gave me so much confidence.” Captain Lee’s trust in Fraser allowed the chief stew to “really get creative and to really think with method on strategy on how to make the season sort of work as well as it did.”
The Below Deck star admitted that the biggest difference between being chief stew and his previous positions was that “you have to be entirely overseeing and responsible of everyone’s great work, but equally their worst. I think that really took a toll on me in the sense of you can only do your most to encourage people to make them do what they can. But ultimately, you still have to take responsibility for their sh*tty work and their big mistakes. I found that tough, and I found it tough to relate that to the stews. But again, this is all such a learning curve.”
Fraser teased that there will be plenty of drama in the milestone 10th season. “There is so much romance, and there is so much conflict between the crew,” Fraser revealed. “I mean, that goes for any ship, to be honest. But there are highs and lows equally. There are beautiful relationships formed both romantically and platonically between people. I think it just incorporates everything you want to see in a season. Being a fan myself, looking back, it really does have everything that you’d want to see and so much more, which I can’t tell you about.”
The chief stew is beyond proud of his promotion and can’t wait to continue to learn more in this new role. “I feel like I have a lot more to learn as a chief stew and have a lot more to show. I think the only way you can get better at anything is to practice, keep doing it, get better, and be thrown into deeper, stormier waters, so bring it on,” Fraser told HollywoodLife. Below Deck season 10 will air Mondays at 8 p.m. on Bravo.