Captain Jason Teases ‘Below Deck Down Under’ Season 2: ‘We Were Thrown a Lot More Curve Balls’

Captain Jason Chambers said Below Deck Down Under Season 2 will be a kicked-up version of the Australian iteration of the series and he shared a few lessons he learned from filming season 1.

Bravo announced that Below Deck Down Under would get another season with Chambers at the helm. Chief stew Aesha Scott will return and fans will have to wait to see if any other crew members from Below Deck Down Under Season 1 return.

Captain Jason was on board for ‘Below Deck Down Under’ Season 2 because Aesha returned

Chambers couldn’t share much about Below Deck Down Under Season 2 but said he and his crew faced even more challenges this time around. “Knowing that Aesha was coming back … Season 2, we wanted to up the game a little bit,” he said on Hannah Ferrier’s Dear Reality, You’re Effed podcast.

“I think we learned a lot out of season 1,” he continued. “I definitely did. And I know Aesha did as well. So we did try and up the game as much as we can. We were thrown a lot more curveballs than season 1. So that’s going to be interesting to watch. And I think having the foundation after season 1, we really did well in season 2.”

What did Captain Jason learn from ‘Below Deck Down Under’ Season 1?

Chambers learned what just about every other Below Deck captain learns during his first season of Below Deck Down Under – he doesn’t see what really goes on below deck. He was surprised when he saw the massive drama with his crew when he watched Below Deck Down Under Season 1.

“Especially with me being a first-time captain, it was my first season, the production team obviously just let it be,” he recalled of season 1. “And me not knowing a process or seeing the process before, yeah it was very difficult to navigate.”

“Probably the biggest shocking thing among them was when (chef) Ryan (McKeon) was throwing glass at someone when he was out,” Chambers said. “If we had that sort of violence from a crew member, that would have been brought to my attention straight away. Any crew member would have been brought to the captain straightaway. Because as you know, we wouldn’t tolerate crew behaving like that in a public environment.” While drinking at a local bar, McKeon challenged a few men who started heckling the women on the Below Deck Down Under crew.

‘Below Deck’ crew mutiny?

Chambers said the other instance that surprised him was rescuing an errant tender. “The other one, which was a surprise to me, but it actually turned out to be great in the end. When we rescued a tender at the end of the season,” he said. “It was left there. It was rough seas and we got the crew together and it was a very unsafe situation to rescue this tender that was adrift.”

He recalled how the rescue mission was a learning experience for the crew.

“We spoke about it, talked about the risk management, and got through and did it well as a team,” he remarked. “And now watching back and knowing all the rumbling that was going on weeks and weeks on weeks … Gosh it was a bit of a mutiny going on underneath. Then they get to actually see that happen. And then the result of really good teamwork at the end. That was one that was a wonderful outcome. And I didn’t know all that rumbling was going on underneath every week. “

Peacock has not announced a release date for Below Deck Down Under Season 2.