"I deserve my chance to shine": Below Deck Down Under’s Marina slams Lara Rigby for restricting her to housekeeping duties

Below Deck Down Under season 3 stew Marina Marcondes de Barros spoke to US Weekly in an interview published on April 21, 2025. During the interview, she expressed her frustration over Chief Stew Lara Rigby's leadership style, recalling how she was assigned laundry and housekeeping duties for each charter.

Marina believed it was a "little unfair" to her because Lara had previously said that the stew crew members would be rotating between service and housekeeping duties. When Marina tried to raise concerns about the situation to Lara, the chief stew dismissed it, telling her she was good at housekeeping.

While she initially tried to make her peace with it, Captain Jason Chambers advocated on her behalf and made her realize that she could do more and deserve her chance to shine. She told US Weekly that seeing the Captain advocate on her behalf, gave her "back [my] strength."

"Having [Captain] Jason [Chambers], somebody that I look up to, advocating on my behalf and showing that I am a hard worker and I deserve my chance to shine, it just gave me back my strength. I needed to go back there and ask [for what I wanted]. It felt like I wasn’t crazy,” she said.

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Below Deck Down Under star Marina Marcondes de Barros felt voiceless after being "stuck" in housekeeping

Marina Marcondes de Barros joined Below Deck Down Under season 3 as one of the stews. She started off working under chief stew Lara Rigby, who also made her debut that season as part of the new cast lineup.

While Marina was happy with Lara's leadership as the star of the season, as time went on, she found out that she was kept in the laundry room each charter. She shared in her interview with US Weekly that she raised concerns with Lara that they weren’t rotating and that the situation was a little unfair to her.

However, Lara didn’t respond well to the feedback, and Marina began to feel voiceless, frustrated by the lack of opportunity to grow in her role. The Below Deck Down Under stew noted that she didn’t want to create any conflict. She noted that this was why she just made peace with the fact that she was going to be stuck with housekeeping the whole time.

However, Captain Jason Chambers came to her aid and advocated on her behalf, helping her see her worth and that she deserved fair working opportunities. This gave her strength and made her realize that she needed to stand up for herself and ask for what she wanted.

“I did deserve a chance to shine and I feel so blessed to have [Captain Jason] by my side. I just hoped it made an effect on Lara,” the Below Deck Down Under stew said.

Marina shared that stewards are often allowed to switch between service and laundry duties to gain experience. However, when she raised a question about her situation, Lara dismissed it, saying that Marina was very good where she was.

The Below Deck Down Under stew felt that Lara should have followed the rotating practice like she had said earlier in the show. Expressing her frustration, she added that if Lara only needed someone to handle housekeeping duties, she should have hired a dedicated "housekeeping stew."

The crew member noted that she had worked in yachting for four years and knew "how boats work," adding that Lara telling her that it was how it went and how she was supposed to go, is "not true."

“If you say you’re rotating the girls, you’re supposed to rotate the girls. Otherwise you just hire a housekeeping stew and you say to her, ‘You are a housekeeping stew,'” she said.

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Below Deck Down Under season 3 episodes air every Monday on Bravo and are available to stream the next day on Peacock.