‘Below Deck’: Rainbeau de Roos Reveals Why She Returned for Season 13

Below Deck heads to Phuket, Thailand for Season 13 with Captain Kerry Titheradge and a couple of familiar faces in the interior. Chief Stew Fraser Olender once again heads up the department with Rainbeau de Roos coming aboard the motor yacht Azul V as Second Stew. For de Roos, the last charter season was surely not rainbows and butterflies. The main source of frustration could be attributed to Solène Favreau, who pushed de Roos to the breaking point. She clashed with the French stew over not pulling her weight.     

This time around the twenty something hopes for calmer waters working alongside stews Kaylee Brown and Rosa Simms-Preston. Rounding out the cast are Chef Moe Vilomar, Bosun Alex Wright, and deckhands James Bishop, Matthew Fitzpatrick-Buck, and Jessenia Stidger. Ahead of the October 12 premiere on Bravo, de Roos breaks down what’s to come. 

BELOW DECK — “Charter 8” Episode — Pictured: Rainbeau De Roos — (Photo by: Stephanie Diani/Bravo)

Given everything that happened last season, what made you want to come back?

 Rainbeau de Roos: I think, honestly, just my internal drive to keep improving and doing better and doing cool stuff is what was the main motivation of coming back. I wanted to come back from last season and be a better second stew, do a better season, make this season even more incredible than the last was.

What did you take from your emotional and high-pressured experience last year? 

Anytime anyone goes through a tough period of time, you learn a lot about not only the environment, but yourself. So, going through last season definitely taught me a lot about patience, being a better manager, dealing with different personalities, working with different types of people from different corners of the world. So, it was definitely a huge learning lesson, and I am going to try to take all of those lessons I learned last season and put them into this season and hopefully do better.

How would you describe your dynamic with Fraser? I know there were fans who thought he should have let Solène go and didn’t support you the way he should have?

I think last season taught both Fraser and I a lot of lessons. And coming into this season, I think our main goal was just to work as well and as incredibly as a team as we did last season, but also improve on that. We wanted to learn from our mistakes. For me, I struggle to ask for help when I’m in trouble. I’m a perfectionist, and I love to get everything done by myself. So, this season was definitely more of a self-awareness with the sense of when I am struggling or I am needing help, I have to ask for it because people can’t read my mind.

What can you say in terms of how things are going to play out with the interior as you now have Kaylee and Rosa in the department?

I think the interior team gets a lot of pressure this season. I think with any people that work under a very intense pressure environment, there can be some cracks. But we all work together as a team as best as possible.

What can you tease as far as boatmances are concerned, whether it’s yourself or others on deck involved? 

I don’t want to tease too much, but I know a lot of people have been asking me about last season versus this season. Last season was incredibly spicy. I’m not sure if we could compete with all of that, but this season there are what you call boat goggles. Once they hit a certain point of the season anybody starts looking very attractive.

What were your first impressions of the guys when you saw them? Anyone you were drawn to right out of the gate? 

Well, I came into this season with a boyfriend, which was kind of different for me. It was very eye-opening. The guys on board were really cool. They seemed really friendly, really nice, and all here with the same mindset. I mean, the whole crew kind of came on board with the same mindset of let’s work hard, let’s make a lot of money this season, but let’s also have a lot of fun. And then putting us all in Thailand together, you can only imagine.

Chef Moe seems like a strong personality from New Jersey. How would you describe your interactions with him? 

Probably one of my favorite crew members when we joined the boat. Just his energy and his vibe, and he is so New York-New Jersey, but he is also so chill and so laid back. He was just everyone’s shoulder to cry on and turn to. I feel like he was everyone’s kind of connection throughout the season. He was the one that definitely got all the tea in the kitchen. Everyone would just go into the galley and be like, “Oh my God, Moe, you’ll never guess what this person’s doing.” It was a nice little home base for everyone.

You mentioned Thailand, which is such an exotic place. I’m sure a lot of the experiencers are very elevated with high expectations. What can you say about the charter guests, the excursions, and even your crew outings?

Well, I honestly have to say, Thailand is probably one of the most beautiful countries in the world. It’s definitely in the most beautiful sector of the world. I think Southeast Asia being that remote really created some really exclusive luxury experiences and excursions for the guests, but also for us, dealing with different types of wildlife that we don’t necessarily see in the Mediterranean or in the Caribbean. The food is absolutely incredible. I love Thai food. I also spent most of my childhood in Southeast Asia, so it felt very much like going home.

BELOW DECK — “Charter 8” Episode — Pictured: (l-r) Alex Wright, Fraser Olender, Rainbeau De Roos — (Photo by: Stephanie Diani/Bravo)

How would you describe Captain Kerry’s leadership style this season? 

I would say Captain Kerry definitely had his hands full this season. He was very hands-on with both the deck team and the interior. He was really supportive. He always had his door open. The bridge was always there if we ever needed to talk or just to get something off of our chest. I feel like Captain Kerry very much felt more like a safe space this season.

What do you think was the biggest story or overarching theme that we should look out for this time around? 

I would say just get ready for hectic crew dynamics, definitely a strong rumor mill on the boat, and everyone dealing with pressures differently. The crew dynamics this season are crazy. The excursions that we go on are really wild. I would say I personally haven’t partied harder than I partied in Thailand. The amount of nights where it was just, go, go, go, and then I would wake up the next morning having no recollection of what happened. 

Where does your yachting career stand now? 

I’ve taken a little bit of a pause of the boat world and kind of transitioned more on land. I’m working in a private membership club here in New York as a VIP member relations manager. So, I’m more or less the chief stew of a private membership club here in New York. It’s not that much different of a job, but I’m just not on a boat. I’m inland.

Related

'Below Deck' Season 13: Cast, Premiere Date, Trailer & Everything We Know

So, you get a lot of celebrities or other guests who know you from Below Deck? 

You’d be surprised how often it happens. If not daily, definitely weekly.

How would you say you adjusted to being in this reality TV world? 

My life hasn’t changed that much. I mean, living in a city like New York, it’s not that big of a deal. I’m definitely not that big of a deal here at all in any way, shape, or form. I would say the biggest change is the internal change of watching yourself and learning from yourself and just growing as a human being. I would definitely say I’ve calmed down a lot more working on my emotional regulation, my patience, and all of that stuff. I’ve definitely chilled out. It has helped me just work on myself as a human being. I would say that’s the biggest change that’s happened in my life.

Below Deck Season 13 premiere, October 12, 8/7c, Bravo (Next Day on Peacock)