Why Cat Baugh Left Below Deck

Reality TV show Below Deck has seen its stars come and go, partly because different seasons take place on different yachts. But there was one particularly surprising departure during Season 11, so to clue you in, here’s why Cat Baugh left Below Deck.

Why Did Cat Baugh Left Below Deck?

Cat Baugh left Below Deck for several reasons. This stewardess’s state of mind was suffering due to circumstances on the boat, and she also received an important phone call from home which, while she shared its contents, gave her the push to leave.

“This is too much. I need to be with the people [who] need me, and also, on this boat, I’m at a breaking point. I need to protect my mental health. It’s like my support system is at home, not here”, she said in her final interview (via Bravo).

The show seemed to show she wasn’t getting along with some other crew members, Barbie Pascaul included, but clever editing can accomplish a lot, so no-one apart from Cat herself really knows what was going on.

Cat Baugh made the decision to leave at the end of Below Deck Season 11 Episode 7 and the rest of the season continued without her. She wasn’t the only crew member to leave in that episode. While she left of her own accord, crew member Jared Woodin was fired during that episode.

Where is Cat Baugh Now?

After leaving the show, Cat returned home to California and took time out to relax. The show was seemingly filmed in 2023, but the Below Deck episode where she left aired two months ago, so it may be she put her social media on pause so as not to spoil her exit.

She’s not said much about her departure on social media, posting the odd philosophical take on Instagram, such as “Something I’ve learned in life is the universe never explains why.” She has a new relationship (via Bravo) but hasn’t revealed what she’ll be doing next.

So the answer to why Cat Baugh left Below Deck is that, as seen on the show, she left for the sake of her mental health and because she received a call from home. But she hasn’t really commented beyond what was seen on the show.

Be sure to search up The Escapist for more news and information on the show, including why Kate Chastain left as well.