Caio Poltronieri's Below Deck Firing Was a Long Time Coming
Another season, another meltdown at sea.
On Below Deck Season 12, Captain Kerry Titheradge has officially fired Bosun Caio Poltronieri, and it's exactly the kind of chaos Bravo viewers tune in for — not because it's shocking, but because it was long overdue.
Despite Caio's four-to-five years of yachting experience, he quickly became the weak link on board the St. David. His leadership? Spotty. His scheduling? Nonexistent. His memory? Let's just say the guests' luggage got left on the dock — during the very first charter.
The captain gave him warnings. Multiple. He even called Caio an "idiot" (repeatedly) during a disastrous docking attempt. But by Episode 5, Kerry was done making excuses.
"With Caio, I'm running out of excuses on why he's not getting his job done right. He's let me down. He's letting his team down. It's too much for him," Kerry said in a confessional.
And then came the final talk on the bridge:
"I've really wanted you to succeed here. The thing is we keep having these little errors that keep adding up. And the problem with that is I'm losing confidence in you... I gotta let you go, mate."
In other words: pack your bags, preferably with everyone's luggage this time.
Why He Got Fired (According to the Show):
- Forgot to send crew for breaks — and meals.
- Left guest luggage on the dock.
- Poor communication with both crew and captain.
- Botched a critical docking maneuver.
- Blamed his own team when things went wrong.
Even his own deckhand, Jess Theron, had enough:
"I'm tired of Caio putting the blame on everybody else. If the first thing you're gonna do is point fingers, that's not someone I want to work for."
Caio wasn't the first crew member to walk this season — just the first to be fired. Chef Lawrence Snowden quit earlier after struggling in the galley and getting overwhelmed by the cameras. Captain Kerry tried to convince him to stay, but wasn't about to beg.
"If someone's willing to quit so quick, I can't have that. I need someone I can trust."
Enter Chef Anthony Iracane, brought back after getting fired by Kerry in a previous season. Yes, really. He called this his redemption arc, declaring:
"I'm not a loser and I can be a winner... It's going to be showtime. It's going to be the Tony show."
To his credit, he's only served one allergic guest the wrong dish so far. Which, for Below Deck, is practically a win.
New episodes of Below Deck Season 12 air Mondays at 8 p.m. on Bravo. Expect more tension, more firings, and probably more seafood-related emergencies.