‘Below Deck Mediterranean’: Chef Ben Has Firsthand Experience Dealing With Long Distance Relationships

Chef Ben Robinson from Below Deck and Below Deck Mediterranean weighed in on Malia White’s relationship breakdown with chef Tom Checketts, sharing how long-distance relationships and can be a serious challenge. He tried to sustain his own long-distance romance with stew Emily Warburton-Adams after they wrapped Below Deck Season 4. They dated for about a year but the distance made a serious relationship almost impossible.

Below Deck’s Chef Ben says long distance relationships usually don’t work out

“I don’t think long distance works out, to be honest, and I think it actually is a big hindrance,” Robinson told US Weekly. “I’ve known people to have boyfriends on other boats and other parts of the world and I’ve wanted to make out with them. It was always just such a shame. Then they would reunite finally and break up. And I’m like, ‘See, I told you.’”

“Sometimes human contact really helps when you’re just so stressed out,” he added. “It’s weird. You’re very vulnerable and it’s nice to have a hug here and there. I’m just a big baby.” Robinson did three and a half seasons of Below Deck and a season and a half of Below Deck Mediterranean. Despite being the longest-running chef on the series, Warburton-Adams was the only serious relationship he had on the show. He did, however, hook up with quite a few crew members, which included Kate Chastain, Kat Held, and Tiffany Copeland.

Why did Chef Ben and Emily Warburton-Adams from ‘Below Deck’ break up?

Warburton-Adams recently discussed why the couple parted ways, sharing that distance definitely played a big role in why the couple broke up. “We just grew apart a bit,” she told Bravo’s The Daily Dish. “I was traveling back here. There’s not a lot for him to come back here for. So we just grew apart. We’re still very close now. He’s been a huge crutch and support through everything. I’ll always love him.”

She said they tried to make the relationship work despite the distance. “There was a point when I was gonna fly out there for a dinner with him while he was on [Below Deck Med], but I didn’t in the end,” she said. “No, it wasn’t quite the right time for meeting him, et cetera, but, yeah, another time maybe.”

Emily Warburton-Adams from ‘Below Deck’ has fond memories of Chef Ben

Viewers watched the relationship between Robinson and Warburton-Adams unfold on Below Deck Season 4. He was smitten with her, buying her the largest bouquet of flowers he could find. And while most boatmances fizzle out the minute the couple hits the dock, Robinson and Warburton-Adams gave love a shot.

“It’s weird when you’re really living it,” she said about the romance on the show. “It was my real life. There were no feelings about having won him. It was a real relationship for me. It just happened to have been aired on TV.”

They also enjoyed some land life together. “So I went and stayed with him, and I met his brother [James Robinson], et cetera. I didn’t go back to working on yachts, but Ben and I toured around the States, and we’d do private events together,” she recalled. “So I’d be his little sidekick cook, service staff, and then he’d do all the cooking. It was a lot of fun.”

Although the romance didn’t work out in the end, Robinson and Warburton-Adams remain friends. “He’s a magical human being. It was a lot of fun, always unexpected, things coming up. I loved it,” she said. “I was back-and-forth from the U.K., but we were very comfortable living together. It was exciting because we were always traveling around. It was like we were always on the move.”