Below Deck fans don’t suffer fools gladly. They’re now dragging Below Deck season 10 Lead Deckhand Ben Willoughby for dating and then ghosting replacement stewardess Leigh-Ann Smith after fired deck-stew Camille Lamb apparently broke up with him. Fans are calling out Ben playing Leigh-Ann after he reconnected with her once his boatmance with Camille sank sometime around their ten-day romantic Dominican Republic trip.
Leigh-Ann dropped receipts on Instagram via video clips of her and Ben’s relationship living in an apartment together in Florida for a little over a month. While together, Ben and Leigh-Ann spent “every day” together hanging out at the beach, eating meals together, cuddling in bed, goofing around, and driving around Florida.
Leigh-Ann kissing Ben on a beach in Florida while they were dating (Instagram).
In a long IG statement, Leigh-Ann revealed she and Ben even planned to travel and work together, maybe even going back to her home country of South Africa. However, Ben had other plans, got a job, and Leigh-Ann returned home on her own. They kept in “regular” touch, but Ben completely ghosted her once Below Deck season 10 started airing on Bravo.
More of Leigh-Ann’s story on Instagram.
She also revealed Ben led her on way more than what was included in Below Deck season 10’s episodes, flirting with her constantly and downplaying his thing with Camille. Leigh-Ann claims she was a “shoulder” for sullen Ben after he was sad from his breakup with Camille and that she found it mentally exhausting. She also defended going after Ben because they’d developed a strong bond DMing on Instagram for nine months after matching on Tinder before ever meeting in person.
Ben kisses new stew Leigh-Ann on Below Deck season 10 trailer (Bravo).
Below Deck Fans Pillory Ben Playing Leigh-Ann & For Treating Her Badly
Ben portrayed himself as a hopeless romantic falling hard for Camille while filming Below Deck season 10. However, not too long after yachtie chief stew Leigh-Ann joined the crew he quickly forgot about the girl of his dreams and started relentlessly flirting with the South African blonde. Ben and Leigh-Ann also spent the last night of the season in a guest cabin together after making out on their final night out. Ben claimed they didn’t do anything behind closed doors because he was thinking about Camille. However, Leigh-Ann says she felt hurt because he only mentioned he wanted to pursue something with Camille in the morning the next day.
“Oh my God that is just such immature behavior! So disappointed in [Ben]. Honestly he and Camille deserve each other. Both slimy [as bleep]. Man up Ben. Man up!” said one fan on IG.
“Oh my, I’m so so sorry that he did that to you. I was really rooting for you guys but hearing this you dodged a bullet if this is how he acts as a person. You’ll find someone much better,” another fan said.
“Did anyone else notice he said nothing happened in the guest cabin and she disputed that in her post. Then he hooks up with Camille for 2 weeks, gets dumped and runs back to Leigh-Ann and actually moves in with her,” a Below Deck Reddit fan pointed out.
Other fans were just glad they don’t have to see Ben and his narcistic trait of loving his hair too much.
“Too much of Ben’s personality is in his hair. He’d be lost if he were to go bald,” said one.
“I’m just glad we don’t have to see Ben’s fake laugh and hair flicks. What a tool,” chimed in another Below Deck fan on Reddit.
However, fans over Ben will be sad to hear he’ll be starring on Below Deck season 11, t00. Conveniently Bravo canceled the Below Deck season 10 reunion episode so he won’t have to answer any difficult questions.
Leigh-Ann’s statement about what happened with her and Ben (Instagram).
Ben Responds To Leigh-Ann’s Statement on Their Relationship & Some Fans Defend Him
Ben responded to Leigh-Ann’s Instagram relationship reveal by blaming her for being too clingy for why he had to ghost her. “I had to cut her out of my life as my mental space was taking a toll. I needed space to actually have my own thoughts, make my own decisions in stead [sic] of someone trying to force me to fall for them,” Ben wrote.
Ben responding Leigh-Ann’s statement about their relationship in which he didn’t spell her name correctly (Instagram).
Some played it off as typical young romance gone awry. Others said he made it pretty clear he was way more into Camille.
“Leigh-Ann knew she was the other girl. She knew about Camille and Ben’s feelings for Camille. Ben went back and forth between the two, and Leigh-Ann was always his fall back. It’s sad, but when a guy goes back and forth between multiple girls, his heart isn’t closed, it’s looking for someone specific to fill the void,” said a Redditor.
