For Below Deck Down Under star Daisy Kelliher, the sailing industry is somewhat of a family affair. Her grandparents sailed, before teaching their children the craft, and so she was the perfect candidate for the role of Chief Stew when Below Deck Sailing Yacht came knocking. Of course, with that particular branch of the Below Deck franchise left in limbo amid a highly distressing and controversial lawsuit, and Daisy having a “tough” last season, her fans wondered if she would ever return to Bravo.
“I do think there was an underlying current of people thinking I was gonna leave the franchise,” she told me in our exclusive sit-down. “So, I’m really excited for people to see me more involved, [and] hopefully see me as a better manager. I don’t always get it right, but I think I did do a good job this season.”
Now, as the “eyes and ears” for Captain Jason Chambers on BDDU Season 4, Daisy’s working on a bigger motorboat, with a plethora of responsibilities. It’s clear Captain Jason has a lot of respect for the experienced star, and his trust was something Daisy felt tenfold.
“I am involved in every single department. I know what’s going on, on deck, with the interior, with the guests, and the galley,” Daisy explained. “It’s super smart to use me as that source of information, which I appreciated that he did.”
But of course, this is a reality show, and with that comes drama. Thankfully, that’s also something Daisy has a lot of experience in dealing with. Here, we talk about Below Deck Down Under’s latest arrival, Chef Ben Robinson’s hot tub meltdown, and much, much more…
Daisy Kelliher teases trouble ahead for Alesia Harris on Below Deck Down Under
After leaving her role of sous chef behind following just one tricky charter, Alesia had an ultimatum for Captain Jason. He could move her to the interior team, or she would be leaving the boat. It left the captain in a tough position; Alesia is his friend, but he already had another hire on the way to fill the gap in Daisy’s squad.
“That whole decision was quite lengthy,” Daisy revealed. “It wasn’t as quick as what we see, and it was definitely a decision that me and Jason spoke about at length.” For Daisy though, it was ultimately the “right thing.”
“Sometimes people do deserve a second chance,” she said. “I have a soft spot for Alesia, but she does have some challenges. I hope she kinda looks back on this season and reflects on it, and maybe it’ll give her some direction for whatever she chooses to do in the future. But yeah, I wouldn’t say it’s smooth sailing [for her] in my department either.”
Even with those “challenges,” however, Daisy was grateful new arrival Elena “Ellie” Dubaich was in the galley. “I wanted Ellie to have a clean slate and it’s important we try not to judge on preconceptions,” she explained. “I did see her previous relationships with her other chief stews, and sometimes it’s better the devil you know, so I was a little bit relieved Alesia was in my department. But she did come in really wanting to try her best and came in with a really positive attitude, which is all we can really ask for.”
Daisy reacts to Ellie throwing shade on a BDDU Season 4 social media teaser
With Ellie’s arrival on board also came a short teaser about what Below Deck Down Under viewers can expect. “For the first few days it was all rainbows and sunshine in the galley,” Daisy reacted. “As the preview shows, that rainbow quickly disappears and turns into thunderstorms. Yeah, she’s a feisty one for sure. Ben met his match.”
That drama has now moved online, as Ellie threw some shade at Daisy on Hayu’s Instagram post of the aforementioned teaser. In that short clip, Daisy says to Ben, “This is mine and your galley, she does not run this galley.”
“Daisy putting Head Chef as second in command of the galley to her,” Ellie wrote on Insta in response, alongside some laughing face emojis. We offered Daisy the opportunity to respond.
“I’ve seen it, someone sent it to me,” she laughed. “First of all, I think it’s taking the grammar a little too seriously. I was simply saying ‘our’ galley, I wasn’t calculated enough to put ‘my’ in front of ‘his.’ I think it’s a bit pre-emptive to start throwing shade like that online before she has seen what we all experienced, but I find it funny. I’ve been doing the show long enough to know that when people throw shade at me, it never goes down well.”
Daisy continued: “She can say whatever she wants about me online, and I think we all know who’s gonna come out on top. I found it pretty funny, in how literal it’s taken. I’m not obsessed with hierarchy; me and Ben are a team, we’ll always be a team … Ellie’s just showing who she is in that shade.”
Why Daisy comforted Ben, and her response to that awkward swerve of Mike Durrant’s advances
Below Deck Down Under viewers saw chef Ben get emotional last week, as he broke down during one drunken night in the hot tub. Daisy immediately sprung into action to comfort him, and it’s something she was impressed with considering she had also been drinking.
“I thought his reaction seemed a little over the top, and I guess there was more going on there, and I think he was feeling a lot of pressure coming back to the franchise, it being so last minute, and I really hate to see anyone upset. I’m such an empath, it hurts me to see someone cry or anything like that. So, I felt his pain and I also understand being a veteran to the show. This is my fifth season and for Ben coming back, I understood the pressure he was feeling, and I understood what the expectations from what the public were looking [for] from him.
“So, for me in that moment, I got it and, I got the hard exterior, but then inside you’re going, ‘Oh, crap.’ Because in our positions, you do have to have this hard exterior. We’re not necessarily able to be vulnerable, because sometimes people take that for being weak. So, I understood it and I felt for him for sure.”
Later that night, Daisy dodged a kiss from stew/deckhand Mike Durrant. Would he have stood a chance if he wasn’t a part of her team?
“No, probably not,” Daisy admitted. “As you can see throughout my seasons I’m definitely a bit of a slow burner. I like to tread waters first before I put a foot anywhere. So, getting to know Mike, no, he’s definitely not my type. Really nice guy and really enjoyed getting to know him, but no, I don’t think we would’ve had any romantic connection. But you never know.”
Below Deck Down Under Season 4 is currently streaming on Hayu.
TELL US – HOW DO YOU THINK ALESIA WILL HANDLE BEING A PART OF DAISY’S TEAM? ARE YOU EXPECTING DAISY AND ELLIE TO CLASH AS BDDU SEASON 4 CONTINUES?
