Ben Robinson on His Favorite Season of Below Deck: "It Was Just Fun and Fresh"
The chef also assembles his dream Below Deck crew.
With six total seasons of Below Deck and Below Deck Mediterranean under his belt, Ben Robinson has seen it all in his time on the series. However, there's one season that stands out above all the rest for the chef.
Ben named Season 1 of Below Deck Med as his favorite season of the show during an interview with The Daily Dish in September. "I love Greece. Greece was incredible. You know, coming from Europe, it was obviously a little bit more cultural for me. I liked that antiquity, the old buildings, all the rest of it. I liked the history. I liked the food culture. But it was just fun and fresh. Everyone just kind of really got on. It was a good team. It was a very good team, I felt like," Ben said, adding that Below Deck Med Season 1 was also "the most fun."
The very first season of Below Deck ever also holds a special place in Ben's heart. "And then the original franchise Below Deck Season 1 was great, but it was also very nerve-racking because it was the first time I was on camera and all the rest of it," he said.
When it comes to putting together his dream Below Deck crew, Ben would pull from across all the franchises and seasons. "I liked Eddie [Lucas] a lot. He was great. I like Captain Sandy [Yawn]. She's just an amazing woman. Kate [Chastain]'s good. One thing with Kate is she didn't really communicate well with me. And I realize that it's not an agenda for her, but it does help me out. I think we could get over that hump, so definitely Kate," he said, before naming Kelley Johnson, C.J. LeBeau, Kat Held, Tiffany Copeland, Bryan Kattenburg, Bobby Giancola, and Captain Mark Howard as other crew members he enjoyed working with over the years.
Ben seemed pleasantly surprised to hear that Kate chose him as her favorite Below Deck crew member during an appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen in July. "Oh, really? I like that. That sounds great. Thank you, Kate. Kate and I, despite our ups and downs and our volatility, I do believe we are, for whatever reason, probably spiritually joined at the hip. We're both Capricorns. We're both of a certain intelligence. We know how to piss each other off. We could be great friends one minute, then at each other's throats the next. It's healthy. It's a little volatile, but it's fun," Ben shared. "I'll return the same sentiment. I think she's probably my favorite for sure."
His interactions with Kate are just some of the things Ben wishes he could go back and redo during his time on Below Deck. "Yeah, I'd probably do all of it over. But I try not to live in regret. But obviously, there's lots of things that made me [go], 'Ooh, that was a bit nasty,'" he shared. "I started to grow very comfortable yelling at Kate, and it didn't really do anyone any favors. I think she dug her heels in and just made me an angry bastard. So I would have changed that. Just probably my temper and frustration at times I would have changed."
One thing Ben definitely does not regret from all of his charter seasons is that pantsless walk down the dock in Season 4 of Below Deck. "Oh, no. I loved that. I think it was about time. The timing was perfect. I think at that point I needed an ass cameo," he said. "And I think it worked out very well. I'm very butt proud. I find male nudity absolutely hysterical, including myself."
He also anticipated not having any regrets about Season 4 of Below Deck Med with just a few episodes left of the charter season to air during our conversation last month. "There's nothing that really stands out as a major regret. I know that people are getting me for being frustrated or taking my frustration out, but people who think that can go screw themselves because imagine if you were in my shoes and you were thrown onto a boat in the middle of France and had eight charter guests arriving in one hour and you were in a complete dump of a kitchen, half of everything was broken, you didn't know what you had, where anything was," he said. "And if you can pull that off without any frustration, then you should go and live out the rest of your life in a temple with the Dalai Lama."
Watch Ben and the rest of the Sirocco crew spill more secrets of the season in the Below Deck Mediterranean Season 4 After Show, above.
Hannah Ferrier has the scoop on whatever happened to your favorite Below Deck Med alums, below.
