Below Deck‘s chef, Lawrence Snowden, struggled to adapt in the St. David‘s kitchen, which resulted in him resigning from his position before the end of Season 12’s inaugural charter.

“I think, at this point, I’m just too annoyed. I don’t need this in my life,” he expressed in an Episode 2 confessional, prior to submitting his resignation to Captain Kerry Titheradge. “Forget this. I’m leaving.”

The catalyst for Chef Lawrence’s decision to leave was the challenge of adjusting to a demanding new job environment combined with being filmed, which caused overwhelming stress. By the second episode, Lawrence admitted he felt “shaking” anxiety and feared having a panic attack, despite never having experienced one previously.

“I’m gonna be going home,” Lawrence announced in a producer interview, describing the decision as a weight “lifted off” his shoulders. “I’m not one to just pack things in, in the first day. It feels a bit like a failure. Problem is, when everything is going wrong around you, obviously… there’s a limit. I definitely feel a lot more relaxed now.”

Despite his planned exit, Lawrence agreed to stay on long enough to help his replacement, Chef Anthony Iracane from Season 11, get his footing.

“I think the crew are great, and Captain Kerry’s a nice guy,” he added, citing his religious faith as helping him get through the “challenging few days” he’d just experienced. “He’s genuine and he’s only been good to me. But my gut’s telling me, Just walk away.”

How the Below Deck crew reacted to Chef Lawrence leaving

Though Kerry initially tried to encourage an “overwhelmed” Lawrence to put on his “big boy pants and get the job done” as he started to “spiral,” the captain ultimately abandoned ship. “If someone’s willing to quit so quick, I can’t have that. I need someone I can trust,” he explained to Chief Stew Fraser Olender.

In a confessional, Kerry elaborated, “I showed him support, but that support couldn’t get him out of his funk. He has decided he can’t be here any longer, and I’m not gonna try and convince him to stay.”

Fraser, for his part, tried his best to play it cool. “I could freak out right now. I could panic,” he admitted in a confessional, after asking Lawrence if there was anything he could to do to help him. “But I’ve got no other option, and f–k, I’ve got no chef.”

He’s the one who suggested re-hiring Chef Anthony to his captain. “Yes, he had issues, but that man is skilled,” Fraser advocated for his friend whom he described as being like a brother.

Details on Chef Anthony Iracane’s return to Below Deck

By the end of Below Deck‘s June 9 episode, Chef Anthony officially made his triumphant return and, after briefly meeting Lawrence in the galley, he also reflected on coming back “home” to the St. David.

“It’s a redemption,” Chef Anthony said, referring to Captain Kerry firing him during Season 11. “I’m not a loser and I can be a winner. And I can make all my family proud. It’s going to be showtime. It’s going to be the Tony show.”

It appears the circumstances surrounding Anthony’s dismissal will soon lead to drama between him and Fraser, though.

“Me getting fired on St. David, I was, like, kind of destroyed about that,” he added, revealing that fellow yachtie Barbara “Barbie” Pascual called him after the season wrapped with some new intel. “She told me Fraser was a big part of me getting fired. That hurt me so bad. I still don’t really know what happened, so I think I have all this anger. [At] the same time, I can’t believe I get this kind of second chance.”

As Anthony makes his transition back to the St. David, don’t miss what else Captain Kerry spilled about Chef Lawrence’s premature Below Deck exit.