HEALTH'Below Deck' Star Jason Chambers Says He Was 'Naïve' to Think He Couldn't Get Skin Cancer: 'So Upsetting'
Captain Jason Chambers detailed the scary process of having his melanoma removed.
May 11 2025, Published 1:15 p.m. ET
After years out at sea, Below Deck star Jason Chambers revealed he has been suffering from an intense medical issue in silence.
The TV personality, 52, disclosed that he was diagnosed with melanoma, the deadliest type of skin cancer.
Jason Chambers wishes there was better access to dcotors.
Chambers had a small brown sun spot on his ribs for 10 years, which he later found out was more serious than he anticipated.
"I've been on the water for three decades now, and I thought, 'That's never going to be a problem,'" he recalled to an outlet. "But it is a problem."
After a friend of his was diagnosed with skin cancer, he decided it was a good time to schedule an appointment to make sure he was in the clear.
"I thought to myself, I should go get mine checked because I haven't gotten a check for that in five years...it just felt different in my body. My intuition," he recalled.
Jason Chambers' Skin Cancer Diagnosis
Jason Chambers stars on 'Below Deck.'
Chambers got his sun spot taken off and biopsied in Bali last year before learning it was melanoma in December 2024. He received the news via email and struggled to make a follow-up appointment, as he was traveling to promote Below Deck Down Under.
"It's such a long wait to get in to a dermatologist, which is a sad thing," he explained.
He eventually visited doctors in Sydney, who told him that they wanted to do more intense testing on the scale of his skin cancer. Because they predicted it was stage 2, they told him he needed a more intense procedure to remove some of the muscle around his ribs.
"As that period went on, I started researching and [questioned], 'How was I so naïve? How did I not just see a dermatologist every year prior?' That process was just so upsetting," he said.
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How Is Jason Chambers' Skin Cancer Now?
Jason Chambers was diagnosed with melanoma.
Eventually, Australian doctors determined that most of his skin cancer had been removed in Bali, and they only had a small amount left to operate on. He needed to schedule follow-ups every couple of months, but there was only a five percent chance of the disease returning.
Chambers is now using his platform to raise awareness and encourage others to get routine skin check-ups. He is also a proponent of increased access to doctors for all.
"It was very difficult to get a booking...and I was a little bit anxious during that period to get more information," he remembered. "I would love nothing more than to have skin checks available to the people that need it and can't afford it. It's an easy thing to do. It's a quick scan. It shouldn't have to be hundreds of dollars and a wait for three weeks when you're looking at some skin cancers that can actually wipe you out in six months. It's a huge thing."
Jason Chambers is being careful when exposed to the sun.
In the meantime, he's "staying out of the sun" and taking care of his body.
"Slip, slop, slap, we call it in Australia. We slip on a hat, slop on some sunscreen and slap on a shirt," the reality star and upcoming emcee of the Melanoma Research Foundation gala said.
