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Chef Lawrence Quits “Below Deck” Season 12, Chef Anthony Returns
Chef Lawrence Snowden shocked fans and crewmates alike when he decided to step away from “Below Deck” Season 12 before the first charter was even complete.
Citing emotional overwhelm and mounting stress, the chef made his exit from the St. David in the second episode.
Chef Lawrence Reaches His Limit
NBC UniversalSnowden struggled to adjust to the fast-paced yachting kitchen and the added pressure of filming. By Episode 2, he admitted he was “shaking” and on the verge of a “panic attack,” despite never having experienced one before.
“I think, at this point, I’m just too pissed off. I don’t need this in my life,” he said in a confessional, shortly before resigning. “F–k this. I’m out.”
“I’m gonna be going home,” Lawrence told a producer. “It feels a bit like a failure. Problem is, when everything is going wrong around you, obviously… there’s a limit. I definitely feel a lot more relaxed now.”
Despite his decision, he offered to stay on temporarily to help transition his replacement—Chef Anthony Iracane, who appeared in Season 11.
“I think the crew are great, and Captain Kerry’s a nice guy,” Snowden added. “He’s genuine and he’s only been good to me. But my gut’s telling me, Just walk away.”
Captain Kerry and Crew React to Lawrence’s Exit
In an official Bravo First Look, Captain Kerry Titheradge initially tried to guide Lawrence through the rough patch. “Put your big boy pants on and get the job done,” he said when Lawrence began to spiral. But when it became clear the chef had made up his mind, Kerry accepted the decision.
“If someone’s willing to quit so quick, I can’t have that. I need someone I can trust,” Kerry later told Chief Stew Fraser Olender. In a confessional, he elaborated: “I showed him support, but that support couldn’t get him out of his funk. He has decided he can’t be here any longer, and I’m not gonna try and convince him to stay.”
Fraser admitted he felt blindsided: “I could freak out right now. I could panic. But I’ve got no other option, and f–k, I’ve got no chef.”
He recommended bringing back Chef Anthony, saying, “Yes, he had issues, but that man is skilled.”
By the end of the June 9 episode, Anthony had officially returned to the St. David. “It’s a redemption,” he said. “I’m not a loser and I can be a winner. And I can make all my family proud. It’s going to be showtime. It’s going to be the Tony show.”
However, tensions may soon rise. Anthony shared that after Season 11, crewmate Barbara “Barbie” Pascual informed him that Fraser had played a role in his previous firing. “That hurt me so bad,” he admitted on the episode. “I still don’t really know what happened, so I think I have all this anger. At the same time, I can’t believe I get this kind of second chance.”
