The latest season of Below Deck Down Under made franchise history with an unwelcome surprise—a full-blown weevil and maggot infestation in the kitchen.
During the Season 3 premiere on Monday, February 3, Chef Tzarina Mace-Ralph and sous chef Anthony Bird discovered the shocking issue while prepping the Katina for their first charter.
“We have got proper weevils and maggots,” Tzarina told Anthony as she inspected the pantry. “We need to get this bit out as soon as possible. Should we have a look at the dry stuff for a minute? [More] weevils. It’s always f—ing something.”
Anthony, disgusted by the discovery, insisted there was “no excuse” for a boat to have an insect problem. “There’s f—ing loads of them,” he remarked. In a confessional, Tzarina called the situation “gross” before immediately alerting Captain Jason Chambers to the infestation.
Bringing the issue to Jason’s attention, Tzarina explained that the previous chef had clearly neglected their cleaning duties. “The chef before obviously wasn’t cleaning properly, and we have an infestation of weevils and maggots,” she said, pointing to contaminated food storage. “All these tubs have them.”
Upon assessing the situation, Jason, 52, ordered Tzarina to remove “any grains” on board, emphasizing that “everything has to come off.” With guests arriving in just 12 hours, the kitchen crew faced an intense deep clean. “Now we have a whole full clean to do. Not a good start,” he noted.
Speaking exclusively ahead of the premiere, Jason addressed the unexpected crisis. “We have inspections every month. There’s no reason why that should be there, especially when we’ve had a good handover from the previous crew,” he explained.
“We had to lean out the galley and get it ready for the provisions that are coming in the next day. We had to get ready for the guests two days later, so to find that and to be 12 hours behind in preparation was just not the start we wanted.”
The Grossest Discovery Yet
Jason admitted that while he had encountered some unpleasant situations on board, the maggot infestation topped them all. “Most things don’t go past that,” he quipped. “And having my hands in the toilet in Season 1.”
As the episode continued, Tzarina and Anthony worked together to dispose of most of the contaminated food. However, Tzarina made an exception for an opened bottle of vodka, which she placed back in the fridge.
In a confessional, she detailed the daunting task ahead. “I have to chuck everything away and make sure there are no eggs laid everywhere. I need to bleach everything,” she said, emphasizing the importance of maintaining yacht standards. “Charter guests won’t get a little bug in their pasta salad.”
Season 3 of Below Deck Down Under sees the return of Jason, Tzarina, and deckhand Harry Van Vliet. They are joined by a fresh crew, including bosun Wihan Du Toit, chief stew Lara Rigby, deckhands Johnny Arvanitis and Adair Werley, and stews Brianna Duffield and Marina Marcondes de Barros.
Below Deck Down Under Season 3 (Photo: Bravo)The Crew Faces More Challenges
Despite the chaotic start, the team managed to get the kitchen back in order before the guests arrived. However, tensions quickly surfaced during the first breakfast service when Tzarina and Lara clashed over the menu.
Lara, as the new chief stew, allowed the guests to order anything they wanted, a move that frustrated Tzarina. With no set breakfast plan, the chef was forced to prepare multiple dishes on the fly, creating unnecessary stress in the galley.
“This is what I was worried about with Lara,” Tzarina vented in a confessional. “You come to the head chef and ask how you would like breakfast to be done. You don’t just go up and do your own thing. I need it to be my way to get the flow going.”
Adding to the tension, Anthony felt sidelined in the kitchen, admitting he was frustrated with his lack of involvement in the cooking.
“You need to utilize me a bit more, I think. I am just finding it a little bit chaotic, and I normally work a little bit more organized,” he told Tzarina. “It just starts to become overwhelming, and there is s— everywhere. We can definitely make plans and structures to make it easier. But we need to work as a team.”
A Clash in the Galley
The pressure in the galley soon boiled over. As Lara retreated to her cabin in tears following Tzarina’s criticisms, the chef found herself growing irritated with Anthony’s feedback.
“Are you f—ing joking? Lara has caused me 10 times the amount of work, and now I have a new sous chef being a total twat,” Tzarina said. “I need him to support me as a sous chef, which is a position second to the chef.”
As conflicts continued to mount among the crew, it became clear that this season would be anything but smooth sailing.
Below Deck Down Under airs on Bravo Mondays at 8 p.m. ET, with new episodes available for streaming the following day on Peacock.