Tzarina Mace-Ralph and Lara Rigby are not getting along on Below Deck Down Under Season 3. Chief stewards and chefs almost always feud at some point during each season. Yet, Tzarina and Lara knew each other long before filming began, so you would think they should know how to deal with each other already. But still, here we sit, yelling at our screens because both women keep failing to make peace on Bravo.
As each episode airs, I typically start praising one while raising my eyebrows at another. By the end of each episode, my praises and punitive pauses have shifted no less than a handful of times. I enjoy them both, yet I find Tzarina and Lara equally at fault for their current divide in Season 3 of BDDU. I will explain my opinion on this messy matter now.
Tzarina Mace-Ralph is struggling with communication on Below Deck Down Under Season 3
In the galley, communication and timing skills are everything. Tzarina knows this, as she works with tiny time constraints on board the biggest yacht yet in this franchise. Things are getting tricky in these conditions, as each plate needs to arrive in front of its consumer quickly. If not, the temperatures of these dishes will fall, decreasing the dining experience.
Alesia Harris joins Tzarina in the galley, making her the second sous-chef in the history of this series. At first, these two got along swimmingly. Now, they are not faring well, thanks to a breakdown in communication in the galley.
During Episode 12, Tzarina fumed at Lara, as Lara insisted that Tzarina attend an excursion Alesia could have handled solo. Wanting to be liked and fit in with the popular girls has always been a struggle Tzarina faces, as she notes on BDDU. So, Tzarina bit her tongue and went, but when she returned to the yacht, she kept biting her sass box, resulting in Alesia calling out her failing communication skills in the galley.
Then, Lara and Brianna Duffield pulled Alesia into their cabin. Here, Alesia reiterated her communication-related frustrations. Overhearing, Tzarina apologized and explained that her silence was due to her annoyance(s) with Lara, not her. Alesia understood, and she and Tzarina made peace.
Tzarina also struggles with her communication skills with Lara. For example, in Episode 1, Tzarina asked Lara to ensure their guests had a knife and fork on the table. But when the guests needed a spoon, Tzarina shifted the blame onto Lara, whom production cleared via flashbacks.
Lara Rigby’s Below Deck Down Under confessionals aren’t always kind
After filming, Lara appeared on Watch What Happens Live. “The biggest hurdle we had was communication,” Lara shared, noting that Tzarina and her “galley was far away from where the service area was, so that was tricky.” This statement is not terrible. However, the same does not ring true of her other confessionals, which Tzarina acknowledged via a separate episode of WWHL.
When Tzarina and Lara boarded this season, Tzarina talked kindly about Lara in her confessionals. Lara is “fantastic,” Tzarina emphasized, noting that she and Lara worked together on a prior yacht. Excited, Tzarina pulled Lara in as her roommate onboard BDDU Season 3. However, Tzarina was honest, explaining, “We are much better as off-the-boat friends, but we’ve matured.”
Lara, however, was not as gracious towards Tzarina in her first talking head. Shading Tzarina, Lara explained that our chef is “an acquired taste,” like “Vegemite,” which people “either love” or “hate.” Then, Lara joked, “I’m like Barbie, and she’s like Weird Barbie.” Lara also unnecessarily revealed that, on their last boat, “not everyone liked Tzarina.”
During Episode 11, Lara cracked a Brady Bunch joke, describing one of the sisters as a “bit quirky, like Tzarina.” Tzarina heard this dig, and immediately, her face fell. Unlike that old childhood rhyme, sticks, stones, and names, ALL SUCK.
What has the Below Deck Down Under cast said about Tzarina Mace-Ralph and Lara Rigby?
Many BDDU Season 3 crew members have an opinion about the feud between Lara and Tzarina, including the problematic parties involved. In an exclusive interview with Reality Tea, Tzarina stated, “The problem is that with something like Below Deck, you can’t be perfect, and Lara has such an obsession with control and perfection. I think it overcomes her and takes over.”
Lara also sat down with us, stressing that her confessional comments “never intended” to cause Tzarina harm. Instead, her jokes were “playful,” which Lara assumed Tzarina would understand. “But, if I have offended her, it wasn’t my intention,” Lara emphasized.
Recently, Bri and Marina Marcondes de Barros appeared on WWHL. Playing the game, “What Do You Choose, Stews,” Andy Cohen asked the ladies who had Alesia’s best interests in mind this season, Tzarina or Lara. Without missing a beat, minus the three-second countdown, both girls answered Lara. When asked who gave off the worst mean-girl energy this season between these two non-freshwater-located fighters, the women chose Tzarina.
Nevertheless (in my opinion), both parties have amends to make at this time. Thankfully, BDDU Season 3 is still airing on Bravo.
Below Deck Down Under is streaming on Peacock and Hayu in the UK and Ireland.
TELL US – ARE YOU FINDING FAULTS WITH TZARINA AND LARA, OR DO YOU THINK ONE OF THESE YACHTIES IS MORE TO BLAME FOR THE CURRENT DIVIDE ON SEASON 3 OF BDDU?
