Checking in on the crew. Bravo and Peacock viewers were in for a treat with the premiere of Below Deck Down Under — with many of the show’s stars leaving a lasting impression.
The spinoff series, which debuted in 2022, featured Below Deck Mediterranean alum Aesha Scott. The chief stew joined Captain Jason Chambers and the rest of the group in Australia. Ahead of the first season’s debut, Captain Jason hinted that fans would be shocked by the way chef Ryan McKeown would behave on screen.
“I like everyone. We all had a great time. [Ryan’s] food was great and you saw in the first episode that the guests responded to his food,” he exclusively told Us Weekly in March 2022, noting that Ryan would “stir up drama” the most. “Every crew battles fatigue and working environments change and attitudes change. And then when the attitude changes, as I said, they lose focus.”
The Australia native noted that he wasn’t going to keep crew members around if they created problems in the workplace. After the chef found himself at odds with Aesha and Jason, he was asked to leave the boat.
According to Aesha, it was “difficult” to get on the same page with Ryan. “If arrogant was, like, personified, it would be Ryan. He’s a very arrogant man,” the New Zealand native shared with Us in March 2022. “I think that that’s something that everyone — not just as a chef — it’s kind of difficult to be around anyone that’s arrogant.”
Ryan, for his part, took to social media to stand by his behavior, writing via Instagram in August 2022, “Not everyone gets the same version of me. One person might tell you I’m an amazingly, beautiful soul. The other might say I’m a cold-hearted asshole — believe them both. I act accordingly.”
The Philadelphia native added a caption to the post, which read, “I didn’t change because the cameras were rolling.”
During season 1, viewers also got to see ups and downs between Jamie Sayed and various coworkers. The bosun later opened up about his journey with Captain Jason.
“At the start of any job, you’ve got to learn who the captain is and how they work and vice versa. It took some time because we are all just thrown onto a boat together and had to scramble to make it work,” Jamie explained to Decider in May 2022. “While we’re getting adjusted to each other, we’ve got guests coming on, beach setups and entertainment. Plus, we had to do everything safely.”
According to the former police officer, there was a “bit of tension” between him and Jason as they adjusted to one another. “We always had the same goal, we just had to figure out how to work together to get there. We initially just had slightly different pathways.”
Jamie offered advice to his former employer when it comes to delegating responsibility, adding, “Once he’s comfortable with his boson, which is pretty early on, he should just let the boson take over and trust their judgment.”
Scroll down to learn more about how some former Below Deck Down Under stars have kept busy after the show: