The Big Picture
- Jason Chambers received exceptional praise for his leadership and judgment in handling the sexual misconduct of crew members on Below Deck Down Under.
- Chambers was overwhelmed by the amount of support and appreciation he received from viewers, and he spent hours replying to people who reached out to him.
- Chambers credited his team and the production crew for their support and acknowledged that he couldn't have done what he did without them. He also mentioned that his patience, empathy, and friendly nature played a role in his decision-making.
Below Deck Down Under and its star Jason Chambers hit headlines around the internet this Fall, and not for good reason. The popularity of Season 2 of the Bravo reality series bloomed after a consent scandal. Chambers stepped up against unconsented sexual advances on his show and received exceptional praises from everyone for his leadership and judgment after he maturely handled ill-actions of crew members Luke Jones and Laura Bileskalne. Both crew members were involved in sexual misconduct and Chambers had to have them removed from the ship. He received so much public attention that it got him in Us Weekly‘s Reality Stars of the Year issue, and he was named "a Guardian."
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Jason Chamber Did Not Expect The Reaction He Received
It seems that Jason Chambers' actions struck a cord with the viewers because a lot of them chose to directly reach out to him to show appreciation and support. He expressed his overwhelm to US Weekly and said, “I honestly spent hours and hours every day replying back to people because there were so many that had a story to tell. I’m trying to do as much as I can. There’s a lot going on out there and this actually brought to light a hell of a lot. The amount of feedback that came to me — I’m pretty overwhelmed.” Chambers mentioned that when he made his decisions on set, he was not anticipating the response he got. He said, “I didn’t think it was going to have as much of an impact as what it did at that time.”
It's the Captain who caught all the spotlight for the public praise. But he made sure to credit his team and the production crew. He wanted to let us know that he wouldn't have been able to do what he did if he didn't have the support of the production team. He said, “Obviously I’m not going to be able to do what I do without my team around me. What we do and definitely what production does behind the scenes it really always amazes me. There’s so much work goes into it.”
Chambers also talked about how it was his patience, empathy, and friendly nature that led him to the Captain role and ultimately to his decision that night. He said, “These people are my friends. I work with them 24/7 in the same environment. I am a father, a brother, and a friend.” He is happy that the incident going viral opened a door for a lot of new viewers. People are starting to recognize him off-screen, and he is appreciative of each and every encounter. He said, "They [new fans] weren’t in the franchise before. So I’m getting to actually meet [these people] when I go out, and they are watching the show, and they’re enjoying the leadership aspect of it without being too egotistical.”
