Heather Chase served as a chief stewardess on Below Deck for one season, so where is she now and why do fans think she was fired?

Captain Lee Rosbach has watched countless crew members come and go since he helmed Below Deck‘s mega-yachts. The chief stewardess position was held the longest by Kate Chastain for six seasons, before Francesca Rubi and Heather Chase stepped up for seasons 8 and 9, respectively.

According to the captain, Rubi didn’t return due to high expectations from her successor, Chastain, so she wasn’t as well-received.

Rumors of season 11 are already in full force despite no Bravo confirmation, but one thing is still a mystery: the absence of Heather as chief.

Neither the TV network nor Heather has spoken about the reason behind her one-season stint, but fans have a pretty good theory of what went down.

Why fans think Heather Chase was fired from Below Deck

Chase’s blow-up with deckhand Rayna Lindsey is suspected to be the root of her departure. In case you forgot, Heather used a racial slur twice whilst speaking to Rayna, who is black.

The first occasion came during a night out with the yacht crew, during which Lindsey used the n-word, and Chase repeated it.

Later on in the December 2021 episode, Heather Chase mentions the offensive word once again while rapping and drinking a beer.

At the time, she denied using the word, before apologizing to her crew member. “That’s ok,” Rayna responded. “I still love you. I’m telling you, just be careful.”

Chase added: “Yeah, I can respect that. Thank you.”

Although it seemed the co-workers hashed things out, their confessionals proved otherwise. Chase insisted she didn’t remember saying it, while Rayna shared her point of view:

“I don’t want to be, like, the angry person, but I think what bothers me is that I’m supposed to work with these people who think this s***’s okay. She thought it was cool, and it hurts me. It hurts my heart, it hurts everything in me.”

Upon the episode’s airing, Heather publically apologized on Instagram.

“I am sorry for the hurt my ignorance caused Rayna in tonight’s episode,” she explained. “While I apologized to Rayna throughout the season, I cannot express enough how remorseful I am.

Over the past nine months since this episode was filmed, I have learned how my words and actions can affect others and I vow to do better in the future.”

Good Morning. Has Heather, below deck, been fired yet for saying the “N” word?

— debrazufall (@debrazufall) February 16, 2022

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One Below Deck member was fired for ‘racist post’

Bravo cut ties with Below Deck: Mediterranean lead deckhand, Peter Hunziker, in June 2020. According to a statement posted by the network, he was “terminated for his racist post” and production staff worked to edit him from the back half of season 5.

The Twitter meme involved an image of a black female, which he apologized for six weeks after the firing.

“A little over 3 months ago someone sent me a meme on social media and I thoughtlessly reposted it,” he wrote. “I now realize how painful the imagery and symbolism is and, upon deeper consideration, I realize that the implicit bias that exists in the brief text written in the meme is offensive.”

“To all those I have hurt and offended please know that I am genuinely sorry,” he added. “I have always fully supported equal rights and equal opportunities for ALL people.”