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Below Deck Down Under’s Captain Jason Chambers has said he hopes crew members fired for acting inappropriately towards colleagues have ‘reflected and changed’.
This series has been the centre of controversy this week after bosun Luke Jones was booted for climbing into the bed of stewardess Margot Sisson while she was asleep, and he was naked.
At the same time, second stewardess Laura Bileskalne was also asked to leave after making deckhand Adam Kodra feel uncomfortable with her unwanted advances, whilst also making light of the situation between Luke and Margot, telling her what happened was a ‘joke’.
Soon after the episode went to air, Jason and chief stewardess Aesha Scott were praised for their actions addressing what had unfolded, and now he’s issued a statement in the aftermath.
Addressing fans of the show on Instagram, Jason, 50, praised both the production crew and Aesha for how they handled the situation.
‘I’ve had a flood of messages over the last 24 hours from people in similar situations, some not so lucky [with] the outcome, so my heart goes out to them,’ he began.
Below Deck Down Under’s Captain Jason Chambers has spoken about firing two crew members (Picture:Bravo TV)
‘I’d like to thank the production team for breaking the fourth wall and stepping in, then re-forming and allowing Aesha to come to me in an authentic manner, and then us dealing with it as we would as captain and crew.’
Stressing that he was unaware of what went on between crew members when they went out together, he said that as soon as the incidents were brought to his attention, he ‘addressed it straight away’.
Jason then went on to ask people to ‘stop the hate’ following the backlash that had been directed at Luke and Laura.
He praised Aesha Scott for bringing the incidents to his attention (Picture: Mark Rogers)
‘Look, this happened over a year ago and again I’ll stress that the people involved are all hopefully on a better journey to better themselves,’ he explained.
‘Less hate please, more love. But let’s send it home and know that this is not acceptable.’
Expressing a similar sentiment in the video’s caption, he wrote: ‘Thank you for all the lovely messages and I have great sympathy for the messages for those that were triggered by these episodes.
‘I applaud the production team and crew, and I sincerely hope that all parties involved use this time to reflect and use this opportunity to not only change but help others.
‘Everyone has the chance in life to grow, learn from experiences either good or bad and become the best humans. Respect Boundaries.’
Luke Jones was fired for sexual misconduct (Picture: Bravo)
His post was flooded by messages of support from fans, with one writing: ‘Kudos to you and Aesha for dealing with this horrible situation so quickly and professionally- the world needs more people like you in it.’
‘What a leader. Absolutely outstanding and a fantastic role model,’ another added.
During the episode, Jason sat down his crew for a discussion, explaining how cabins should be people’s ‘safety zone’.
Gathering his crew together he told them it was ‘simple’ and they should never ‘cross’ any boundaries’.
Below Deck Down Under streams on Peacock in the US on Mondays, and on hayu in the UK on the same day.
Victim Support
Victim Support offers support to survivors of rape and sexual abuse. You can contact them on 0333 300 6389.
‘I’ll stress that the people involved are all hopefully on a better journey to better themselves.’