Below Deck Down Under‘s Captain Jason Chambers got brutally honest about the “insecurities” he faced during the newest season of the show.
“Every season, myself and the crew get a lot out of something when we look back at ourselves. This year, I had a challenging pre-season,” Jason exclusively told Us Weekly. “I had my father with Alzheimer’s [disease]. My mom was in the hospital twice. My dad was with us, my father had a stroke and my best mate passed away. There was also my melanoma and not seeing my daughter for a little bit because I had to fly back to my parents.”
The captain went through a lot before returning to film season 4.
“I took a lot into it and the whole thing was challenging for me. Then when you get these strong personalities, ego was a big thing that I had to push back down,” he noted. “It hasn’t come up for quite a few years. I’m very confident with who I am and what I’ve accomplished. But that all came back up again with [my] insecurities.”
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Jason continued: “I personally had to go through that, which I can learn for the next one as well. I know that I did get over it and I know I’ll take better tools going into it into another season.”
Despite “a lot going into” the new season, Jason clarified that he left his personal issues at the door.
“All this was in my own cabin. None of this was actually on deck. I do commend myself for being able to wake up in the morning and go out there and confront it all and hold it all together,” he added. “But I got a lot of good friendships out of it — a close bond with Ben Robinson, Daisy Kelliher and João Franco, which is great.”
Season 4 of Below Deck Down Under, which premiered earlier this month, followed Jason back at the helm of the Katina in the Caribbean alongside Ben, Daisy and João. Alesia Harris, meanwhile, returned as sous chef alongside new crew stews Joe Caron and Jenna Woudberg, deck/stew Mike Durrant and deckhands Eddy Hounsell and Betul Yazici.
Jason told Us that season 4 was “challenging for everyone” on board.
“Everyone had their own little thing going on. Daisy was joining a new franchise and she had a point to prove. She was coming off a bad season on Sailing Yacht where she wasn’t putting her foot down with some crew. João is coming back as a captain and he had to swallow egos and pride to get back on deck and help me out,” he explained. “Then you got Ben, who hasn’t been in this scenario for quite some time. He’s been running his own business.”
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Jason continued: “To pick up the knives and pack his bag after a failed relationship and say yes to being down here in 12 hours and change his life upside down. We were all in something. There was so much tension there. Now I’m looking back and I’m just like, ‘Wow, we were all in a personal challenge going into it.’”
While Bravo viewers are used to issues playing out on screen, this season of Below Deck Down Under is different.
“There’s a difference between the fighting that we’ve seen in the previous seasons to this one. This is what the audience is going to love now, which I am really starting to see how it’s going to unfold myself. I only see it with you all. But it is the fact that the things that are going on are true personality and work related issues to get through,” Jason shared. “In working in such close confinement, it’s really raw stuff. It’s not just pointless arguing over silly topics. It’s just the crew — not just the heads of department. There’s more to it than they’ve but it’s actually challenging drama that is significant or poignant to actually operating a vessel.”
Below Deck Down Under airs on Bravo Mondays at 8 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Peacock.
