Taking part in a show like Below Deck Down Under is no easy task. And for Season 3 chief stewardess Lara Rigby, she was stepping into a major role, both on the franchise’s biggest superyacht to-date, and with the Bravo fandom.
“It was scary,” she said in an exclusive chat with Reality Tea. “There’s a lot of pressure. Obviously, Aesha [Scott’s] a huge TV personality and part of the Below Deck family. Those are big shoes to fill, but I was excited to bring a new energy and style.”
Now two months into the third season of Below Deck Down Under, fans are impressed. Lara is a no-nonsense chief stew, who’s consistent in putting her job and the guests first. But how will the rest of the season go, as her tension with bosun Wihan du Toit ramps up?
Lara Rigby found Wihan du Toit challenging to work with on Below Deck Down Under
“I’ve worked in the industry a long time and with some fantastic deck teams,” Lara told us. “I’m used to someone being on it and I think sometimes the ball was dropped on the deck department. It was frustrating for me to see those things and not say anything. Eventually, it gets to the point where I had to say something, because it just wasn’t getting done.”
Despite being a head of department, Lara felt Wihan was too “laidback.” Not something that always works when you have to lead by example.
As for Wihan’s priorities? “I would say finding a wife, from what I’ve seen,” Lara joked. “Or a few of them! I don’t really know what his goal is there, but it definitely wasn’t the job at that point. His main focus is Adair [Werley]. He’s tested the water on a few of the others, but I think love is his main goal right now.”
And he probably shouldn’t think about writing Lara her own love letter. “It made me feel a bit sick! That would’ve given me the ick, big time.”
Now, with a head of department firing potentially on the horizon, did Lara feel in danger? “I don’t think so. The interior was running smoothly, we didn’t have any issues with the guests interior-wise, so I didn’t think we ever fell short. Obviously, now watching it back with Wihan going to the captain about me, if he’d have taken it like that, maybe I would have been. But I’m pretty confident in my role and I know I do a good job.”
Lara Rigby “took a few weeks” getting used to the Below Deck Down Under cameras
“I’d never done anything like this before,” Lara said of joining the show, “so to do my job, as stressful as it is, and have cameras there, made that a lot more intense. Eventually, I was so busy I was just like, ‘I’ve gotta get the job done.’”
Right at the start of the season, however, Lara had an emotional meltdown. Viewers saw as she burst into tears in her cabin at the end of the premiere. It’s something the Below Deck chief stew opened up about on social media.
“It’s never nice to see yourself in that position,” Lara explained. “I always class myself as quite strong, but eventually some things do get too much, and I think it’s important to be able to vent that and get it out there. No one should suffer feeling that way, and I think opening up brings people together. I had a lot of support from people when that happened, and that was really great.”
At that time, we saw head chef Tzarina Mace-Ralph comfort Lara. They’d built a friendship on a prior boat, having worked together. But recently, Tzarina felt a little betrayed by some of Lara’s confessional comments…
Tzarina Mace-Ralph and Lara Rigby were “good” friends before Below Deck Down Under
In recent weeks, Tzarina has called Lara out for some of her comments on the show, filmed in confessional. We asked Lara if she’d like to respond to some of that, and she admitted she was shocked by the reaction.
“I guess I was a little surprised, because we had a good friendship before the show,” Lara said. “We always joked about how different we were as people, but that’s what made our friendship so fun. So, I was a bit shocked she took it to heart that way; it was never intended in that way. It was a playful thing and I assumed she would take it that way. But, if I have offended her, it wasn’t my intention, and I hope deep down she really does know that.”
Hopefully, these two can get back on the same page in the near future. I don’t really see it for Wihan and Lara. But Lara and Tzarina? They need to go on a night out, enjoy some drinks, and clear the air.
Lara Rigby on Marina Marcondes de Barros wanting to do more service, and Captain Jason Chambers having to get involved in her Below Deck Down Under drama
“It’s never nice, you never want to get to that point,” Lara said of Captain Jason being brought into her drama with Wihan. “You want to be able to sort it out between you and just get on with the job. But the captain’s there for that reason as well, he’s an overseer of everything and has a bigger view of it all. I think sometimes it’s a good thing that he can get involved, and Jason’s very fair, he’s a great captain and the decisions he makes moving forward, I fully agree with.”
But it’s not just the deck crew causing a headache. Marina now wants to be on more service. Speaking about her decision, Lara noted that “two stewardesses on a yacht that size is not ideal. The guests were very demanding, and while I’d love to give everyone the opportunity to do what they want to do, sometimes you’ve just got to be the person in charge and make the hard decisions. For me, it was working the way [we had it].
“Bri [Duffield] was amazing with guests and cocktails, and all the preferences were wrapped around service and cocktails. Marina was running the interior amazingly; she’s a great worker. So, for those charters, that was best for the guests, and the decision I had to make. It’s tough, but I just have to get my work brain on in that mode and be strong in that.”
Not to mention, Marina fell asleep in front of guests! “I did hear a rumor but I was like, ‘There’s no way!’” Lara said. “Then I saw it … so yeah, that was a bit of a shock!”
Would Lara Rigby return for another season of Below Deck?
“Yeah, absolutely!” Lara told us. “It was a great experience. I met some fantastic people, and the team and everything from it has been great. So yeah, why not? Who knows!”
With the drama, there were some highlights. “Me and Bri obviously have a fantastic friendship that’ll be forever. We had some funny, funny times. There was a lot of laughs, a lot of good times and memories, and every time we watch an episode back, we all get in the [text] group and laugh about it. It was a really fun time.”
And while we couldn’t get a present-day update on Bri and Harry, Lara loved their time on the yacht. “Their relationship was nice. It was very cute and felt natural, they had a good base of friendship before it. The other relationships I’m not so sure on! I don’t know what was going on there.”
Below Deck Down Under continues Mondays at 8/7c on Bravo.
TELL US – ARE YOU ENJOYING LARA ON BELOW DECK DOWN UNDER? DO YOU THINK WIHAN WILL BE FIRED?
This story originally appeared on Realitytea
