Captain Jason talks personal hardships he faced ahead of 'Below Deck' season 4

Below Deck Down Under’s Captain Jason Chambers had a very challenging preseason before filming season 4 of the show.

"This year, I had a challenging pre-season," Jason told Us Weekly. "I had my father with Alzheimer’s [disease]. My mom was in the hospital twice. My dad was with us, my father had a stroke and my best mate passed away. There was also my melanoma and not seeing my daughter for a little bit because I had to fly back to my parents."

"I took a lot into it and the whole thing was challenging for me. Then when you get these strong personalities, ego was a big thing that I had to push back down," he noted. "It hasn’t come up for quite a few years. I’m very confident with who I am and what I’ve accomplished. But that all came back up again with [my] insecurities."

"I personally had to go through that, which I can learn for the next one as well. I know that I did get over it and I know I’ll take better tools going into it into another season," he reflected.

Despite the hardships in his personal life, Jason kept a professional attitude.

"All this was in my own cabin. None of this was actually on deck. I do commend myself for being able to wake up in the morning and go out there and confront it all and hold it all together," he added. "But I got a lot of good friendships out of it — a close bond with Ben Robinson, Daisy Kelliher and João Franco, which is great."

Season 4 of Below Deck Down Under airs on Bravo Mondays and episodes stream the next day on Peacock.