Ben Willoughby Sets the Record Straight on Relationship with Camille Lamb While Leigh-Ann Smith Weighs In
Did Ben and Camille meet up in the Dominican Republic as planned? Has Leigh-Ann heard from Ben since filming wrapped? Get answers to all of your burning questions below.
Ben Willoughby left Below Deck fans wondering about the status of his relationship with Camille Lamb on the Season 10 finale that aired on March 20, but thankfully, he’s now setting the record straight.
Ben and Camille’s Dominican Republic Trip
The deckhand took to Instagram on March 21 to share two posts featuring Camille: one that revealed they had indeed met up in the Dominican Republic once filming on the show wrapped, and the other sharing what went down while they were there.
“[F]ollowing my heart always has [led] me to where I am now,” Ben began his initial post, a photo of the two at the beach. “Camille and I spent 10 days in the Dominican Republic and honestly, I fell in love with this wild spark.”
He continued his musing in the caption of a video montage of the trip, first noting that it was “something we both needed,” and that he and Camille “genuinely had a spark,” though it was “comparable to that of a primary school crush.”
The Fate of Ben and Camille’s Relationship Revealed
“Sadly soon after we decided that this wasn’t meant to be,” Ben’s caption continued. “[A]nd being honest[,] that was a very tough pill to swallow. We are not together anymore [but] in a perfect world it would have been something of a fairytale. We both organically fell in love with one another and had many, many memories to share throughout this whole [Below Deck] journey.”
He concluded the post with a piece of “advice” for fans: “[F]ollow your heart in any direction [it] may lead[,] even if you know it may hurt.”
Ben and Leigh-Ann’s Relationship
Leigh-Ann Smith and Ben shared a steamy make-out session on the Below Deck Season 10 finale, but he stopped things from going any further because, as he revealed on the show and in his Instagram posts, he wanted to follow through with his plan to meet Camille in the Dominican Republic. However, it turns out that Ben and Leigh-Ann’s story didn’t end there either.
One of his followers commented to ask if he ever got “back in touch” with Leigh-Ann, to which he responded, “[Y]es! But didn’t work either.”
Leigh-Ann opened up about their post-show relationship in an Instagram post of her own, first explaining that she wasn’t fully aware of Ben and Camille’s connection when she came aboard. “Some of the crew found us to be more compatible and that they were not very serious,” Leigh-Ann wrote. “I spoke to Ben about their relationship too and he brushed it off easily and continued to flirt with me and lead me on.”
Then, after they spent the night together, “Ben decided that he wanted to see Camille and explore their connection further after the show wrapped,” she continued. “Obviously, I felt hurt and messed around as I was being dragged into this love triangle. However, I fully supported him and wished him the best in his decision.”
Leigh-Ann added that she even apologized to Camille. Ben eventually left and “pursued his connection” with her, but Leigh-Ann said that just three weeks later, he “reached out to me to say that things ended between them.”
According to Leigh-Ann, she and Ben then rented an apartment and lived there together for a month. “I was there for him as he was getting through his breakup and was a shoulder to lean on,” she wrote. “I did everything in my will to put a smile on his face every day even though it was killing my own mental health. We also spoke about working and traveling together and Ben possibly coming to [South Africa] with me.”
Ben, however, ultimately took a job elsewhere. Leigh-Ann said they stayed in touch for a while, but she has yet to hear from him in recent months. Initially hurt, she has “come to peace with not getting an answer.”
