Below Deck’s Ben defends controversial Lead Deckhand decision

Ben Willoughby shared a post defending his decision to choose Sunny Marquis as the new Lead Deckhand on Below Deck Season 11.

Ben Willoughby was asked by Captain Kerry Titheradge to appoint a crew member as his Lead Deckhand on Below Deck Season 11 and had to choose between Sunny Marquis, Kyle Stillie, and Dylan Piérre De Villiers.

The Bosun picked Sunny, and Dylan thought the decision was controversial because of their boatmance on board.

Although Ben received backlash from the crew about promoting Sunny to Lead Deckhand, he defended himself in an Instagram post.

“The Golden Deck Brush, if you know you know. I promote on character, not qualifications. Skills can be taught,” Ben wrote. “This has been awarded to someone who I can trust and rely on to stay calm under pressure. With having main responsibilities for running the bow during mooring operations.”

Ben stated that he wanted someone who could give Captain Kerry “clear signals” and “judgment” in order to make the correct decisions on the boat.

He praised Sunny’s progress in her role as a deckhand and explained her growth from not knowing how to use an anchor to operating it on her own, while instructing Kyle to use it without him there.

The Below Deck star issued an apology to Dylan, and noted that he wasn’t chosen due to his reaction to not getting the promotion.

In his post, Ben wanted to prove that a crew member shouldn’t be promoted based on how many years of experience they have but because of their character, which is what he saw in Sunny.

Below Deck airs Mondays at 9:00 p.m. ET on Bravo.