Captain Lee Rosbach looked back on talking about his late son Joshua with charter guests David and Jackie Siegel on Below Deck.
It was an emotional episode, starting as soon as Jackie and David entered the wheelhouse to meet the famed captain.
As the conversation turned to children, Captain Lee admitted he lost his son Joshua to a drug overdose. David then admitted that he and Jackie lost their oldest daughter, Victoria, to drug addiction five years ago.
When Captain Lee joined the Siegel’s and their friends for dinner, he got quite vulnerable with the guests. It was an emotional conversation for everyone.
David and Jackie hoped their experience would help the captain.
Captain Lee was not mentally prepared to discuss Joshua
During the Below Deck Season 8 After Show, the captain spilled it was hard not to open up to Jackie and David.
“They busted into the wheelhouse, and it was like guns blazing,” Captain Lee shared. “I was really unprepared for that. They caught me by surprise, they truly did, but I don’t regret it. I wish I had a little more time to get myself mentally ready for it because that was a pretty big leap for me.”
Captain Lee realized that the Siegel’s could help him, which would lead to him assisting the rest of his family cope with Josh’s death.
Seeing Jackie and David five years down the road and so open affected Captain Lee. He choked up, thinking about how Victoria was only 18 years old.
“We belong to a club that nobody wants to belong to, and there’s absolutely nothing that anybody can do about it. But I see how they have carried on and see the things they have done,” the captain expressed.
How did talking to Jackie and David Siegel help Captain Lee?
It was a conversation that Captain Lee wasn’t prepared to have, but the Siegel’s did help him.
“Any help in this area is not instantaneous. It’s gradual, and you don’t realize it’s helped you until, I don’t know, months or longer after the fact. Then something will happen, and it will trigger that one thing they said pops up in your head, and you go ‘yeah, that makes sense,”‘ the captain said.
Captain Lee reminded viewers the feeling is something “all too many people are going through today,” referring to the opioid crisis. The captain got angry, sharing the number of people lost daily and how he feels nothing has been done.
“People like David’s daughter and my son pay the price, and it’s unfortunate,” he stated with tears in his eyes.
Along with opening up to David and Jackie Seigel about his son Joshua’s death, Captain Lee Rosbach also got candid with chief stew Francesca Rubi about it this season.
Below Deck airs Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo.