‘Below Deck Down Under’: Jason Chambers on Season 4 Dramas & His Health Concerns

You may as well call Captain Jason Chambers the Nick Fury of the seas because he has assembled quite the department head avengers for Below Deck Down Under Season 4. With franchise regulars Chef Ben Robinson, Chief Stew Daisy Kelliher and Second Officer João Franco welcomed aboard the superyacht Katina, it’s sure to be quite the ride. 

This is a homecoming of sorts for Robinson, who hasn’t been part of the Bravo shows in more than six years after Season 4 of Below Deck Mediterranean. Fans will also know Alesia Harris, who returns as sous chef. Rounding out the crew are stews Joe Caron and Jenna Woudberg, deck/stew Mike Durrant, and deckhands Eddy Hounsell and Betul Yazici.   

Beyond managing these strong personalities, Captain Jason ventures to a new destination of Canouan, a slice of Caribbean paradise only accessible via charter plane. The ultra-luxurious destination brings white-sand beaches and turquoise waters. It’s an exclusive private oasis that brings some of the most demanding guests. During the super-sized February 2 premiere, the team gets tested right out of the dock with a charter of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City cast members. These first episodes present the Below Deck Down Under point-of-view. The RHOSLC side of filming of the milestone first crossover between the two franchises aired during Season 6 last year. 

Before the drama unfolds, we sat down with Captain Jason to break down what’s to come.

This season you’re bringing in all experienced heads of department. Do you have a lot of say of who comes aboard each season? 

Captain Jason Chambers: Not really. I did know Daisy was coming. I do get told who is coming, especially this season. I don’t have a say at the start. It’s a logical choice though. I’m glad we had Daisy, and João was a big help. Ben was last minute. 

That one came sort of by happenstance, right? 

We met for the first time in Florida, and then he took me out to lunch. Then 24 hours later we needed a chef. I rang him up and said, “Get down here. I need you.” He said, “I will for you, for sure.” So, he got down there. It was great. 

He hasn’t been on the show for a while, so this is kind of a big deal. 

It is a big deal. It’s a big deal for anyone to jump back into this environment. He had to leave everything behind. It was a time in his life where he wanted a change as well. I think he just got out of a relationship, so I think he felt like a bit of a break would be good. He did it for all the right reasons. He did it to help out and put his best foot forward and walk away and start a new chapter. 

Daisy also looked to start a new chapter after working under Captain Glenn [Shephard] for so long. She comes in after Aesha, who bonded with, and Lara [Rigby]. How was it getting to know her?

Aesha [Scott] joined us as a first-time chief stewardess and moved on to write her chapter again with Captain Sandy [Yawn], which is understandable. Lara came in with professionalism and experience, but just didn’t have the understanding of the environment of this franchise. But she did her best, and to her credit, did well. When I found out about Daisy coming aboard, I actually reached out to Glenn. I said, “Glenn, Daisy might be coming over.” He said, “Well, I hope she doesn’t go to the dark side too long,” He meant sailboat compared to a motorboat. 

I’ve gotten to know Daisy from our meetings at BravoCon. However, coming from a sailboat to a motorboat could be totally different. I just know that the sailboat mentality is kind of close to my mentality as well. Where you interact with the guests and are very sociable. She has that for sure. She has definitely shown that through the sailboat franchises with how she interacts with the charter guests very well like Aesha. To be quite honest, she blew it right out of the park. Daisy, her process of wanting to perform at the best is all we can ask for. And she did. First and foremost she wants to do her job very well. That’s all you can ask from the cruise. 

With the experience of the leadership team comes the inexperience of the others. Talk about your work dynamic this season. 

You’d think with the A-team it would be fantastic. It helps with someone like João on deck. As a captain, you have to get the crew together and spend time on deck and be around the machinery and look at things from a safety aspect and kind of have to micromanage for a few charters to make sure everything is working well. That safety procedures are being followed prior to throwing them all in there. Having João on deck eliminated that for me. I knew I had the trust out there, the experience out there. From my perspective, it was a huge relief. So, I could probably stick to folding and turning down beds and folding towels and helping out in other ways like looking after injured housewives. 

How was it having the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City for your first charter? Talk about trial by fire. 

We’re putting all this experience coming in and trying to perform and put out this five-star service, and it’s getting unnoticed. Ben’s trying to knock it out of the park. Daisy is trying to knock it out of the ball park. João is trying to knock it out of the ball park. The housewives were on it. There was a lot going on there. From an outsider looking in, it was a bit exhausting. I’m glad I wasn’t at that dinner table. Well, I was there for a second before being dragged away thank God. They are lovely people though. It’s really good to have other Bravo franchises coming on and see what we do. I’m good friends with all of them now. To see them at BravoCon and be friends with them now, I think they have a real respect for what we do for work and see how hard we work. Look, it’s nice to have some acknowledgement from another reality show to look at us and go, “Well, you guys don’t stop.” 

This is an exclusive place in the Caribbean where people charter flights. What made this spot stand out compared to others you’ve done in past seasons? 

It’s a beautiful marina. An amazing place. It has developed a lot more since I was last there, but it is purely private. It’s pretty exclusive. To get there is a charter flight from Barbados. It’s kind of unique when you fly over it. The marina is a step back in time like that West Indian colonial time. It has that British kind of look about it. There is a beautiful golf course there. It’s so unique and close to all the keys there. We’re pretty blessed to have that season there. I have been that way before back in 2016. I did a whole season down there, but I hadn’t experienced Canouan like this. It was amazing. 

Are these charter folks more demanding?  

Definitely. Australia was tough. It’s a long flight for those people to get down there. They are putting a lot into it. They’re doing a charter with us and then trying to integrate with more vacation. Whereas in the Caribbean it’s so close to America so they are coming here just for that purpose. They haven’t got a holiday after it or before. They are coming here just for this service. So, I think the expectations are a lot bigger for the Americans closer to home who came here for charter. 

I don’t think we had a dull charter. I don’t think there is going to be any lulls. I think the crew dynamic that goes on, I can only imagine what happened off the boat because I hadn’t seen it myself. What I see we put together and what we came out with, I had to understand what was happening. I’m just worried about what is happening at work, but you could see the dynamics shift so many times with the crew. But at the end of the day, in front of the house, we were spot on with the charter guests. I think it will be fun for the charter guests to see what went on while they were on board. That’s the art of our business….Everyone enjoyed themselves. I think everyone had a great time. You’re going to see João’s character come out, Daisy’s, and all the crew that participated. All of them have a great story to tell. I think we got there in the end. 

 

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Going by your social media, it looks like you’ve made health and wellness a priority. I mean I don’t know about weightlifting barefoot. That looks unsafe. 

Yeah it’s very Bali. I had a melanoma scare about eight months ago. It was good enough for me to put a post online. That led to so many people reaching out to me with their issues and talking about loved ones or their own experiences. It does resonate a fair bit. My father was also just diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. My mom has to carry that. Alzheimer’s doesn’t just affect the person but the people around them like family, which I’m really starting to understand. That’s the journey I’m going with my over 50 health. I want to try to be more understanding about brain cognitive health. By the same token, my daughter is very understanding as well. We’re starting on a new journey right now called Currents of Change where we go to places and do interviews about travel locations, but talking to foundations that are working toward conservation projects like coral restoration, recycled plastic. 

All these people who need donations and doing community work, the unsung heroes. I’m taking my daughter to all these places, and along the way, teaching her about what’s happening with her grandfather and with me. I find it very passionate to speak out about these things. I think it’s worthwhile for my platform to be focused on that rather than selling vacuum cleaners or something. I find it easier to communicate about these things on social media, that has a purpose than anything. It doesn’t pay the bills though. However, it fills the heart. 

 

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I think we need more positivity on social media. I also think audiences enjoy the occasional thirst trap as well. 

Whatever keeps the lights on, we’ll do that. As long as they find something positive on the other side. It’s like my PG side of OnlyFans I suppose. 

What do you want to fans before they check this season out? 

I think every season I’ve really focused on us getting to the end as a team and being able to look back knowing we accomplished that. I think now we’ve got this strong experienced crew in there, there is still trouble in these waters as well. Even with experience, you can have similar issues. The end goal though is that you can only get there together. Let’s see if we can get there together, because that is what we’re trying to achieve. That is my purpose every season and always is. We can’t do it alone. We have to do it together. Even a boat full of experienced crew members, it may not be smooth sailing. 

Below Deck Down Under Season 4 premiere, February 2, 8/7c, Bravo.