Chef Ben Robinson has had a rocky start during Below Deck Down Under Season 4. But when a guest complains about food to Captain Jason Chambers, he has Ben’s back, as seen in the above preview of Episode 6, airing Monday, March 9 at 8/7c on Bravo.
As the crew is preparing for a beach picnic, Jason runs into a guest, who informs him, “We’re ready to go. We’re ready to eat.” As Jason walks away, she adds, “We’re hungry!”
Jason informs the crew of the demands over the radio: “All crew, they’re very keen to get over there and into the beach. They’re very ready and hungry.”
When Ben learns of the pressing ask, he jokes to producers, “Knock knock. Who’s there? It’s your tapeworm, and I need to be fed every 20 minutes. I’m the eighth charter guest.”
Ben reveals the pressure he feels to his galley assistant, Elena “Ellie” Dubaich. “It’s too much, man. It’s really stressing me. It’s just too f—king much,” he says.
When Jason arrives in the galley and asks how it’s coming along, Ben informs him that the guests are not going hungry. “They just asked for guacamole before lunch,” he reminds him, and Jason agrees the demand is unwarranted. “They said, ‘Oh yeah, we’re waiting for lunch.’ And I’m like, ‘You just ate,’” he recounts, and then concedes, “I didn’t say it, but…”
Ben jokes, “Well, there’s loads of sand over there to eat. I love sand.”
Ellie Dubaich on working with Ben Robinson in the galley
Although Ellie previously interacted with Ben off the yacht, this is her first time working with him as a chef and in the role of chef assistant. The two started to build a camaraderie during Episode 4 as they got to know each other before the guests arrived—in fact, they were bonding so well that they nearly missed the guest arrival. They’ve only progressed since then.
RELATED: Captain Jason Chambers Reveals What Made Him Want to Hire Ellie Dubaich (EXCLUSIVE)
“We are gonna get f—ked today!” Ben jokes about the guest demands during the Episode 6 preview, and Ellie agrees: “Pound Town, baby! Pound Town.”
She reveals her secret to a good working relationship with Ben to producers: “I’m quickly starting to realize that working with chefs is kind of like raising a pitbull,” she explains. “They will absorb the energy of the person they’re with. You gotta make sure you’re staying calm, because if you’re not, they will bite somebody’s head off.”
RELATED: Captain Jason Reveals Why He Hired Chef Ben Just One Week Before Filming Started
Ben Robinson reflects on problems in the galley during Below Deck Down Under Season 4
But it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses for Ben and Ellie so far during Season 4. After receiving a $35,000 tip—one of the largest tips in franchise history—from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City cast, the second charter’s guests left $15,000 less. One of the guests’ biggest complaints: the slow service from the galley.
“The service was way too long. Ben’s gotta get his systems right there, because I’m really aiming for a hell of a lot more,” Captain Jason said during the tip meeting in the March 2 episode. “We can do better.”
Ben reflected on the critique during the Below Deck After Show.
“I always find solace in the fact that whoever’s telling me what to do couldn’t do my job with 10 people,” Ben said. “And by the way, I can drive a boat. I didn’t tell Jason that, but I can drive a boat. I could be making steaks, flipping them, driving the boat, coming back, re-flipping them. … And everyone would be like, ‘What a great captain!’ Well, actually, he’s a chef, but, you know, whatever. Not trying to toot my own horn.”
As Kate Chastain joins Ben on the Below Deck Down Under After Show, read more about their years-long friendship.
