Kate Chastain and Ben Robinson are not concerned about the false rumors swirling around about him being the father of her 3-month-old son, Sullivan.
“I don’t even think they look alike. All I can do at this point is laugh. It’s a high compliment to Ben, so I’m happy for him,” Chastain, 40, exclusively told Us Weekly on Monday, August 7, during a joint interview with Captain Lee about their upcoming Bravo series, Couch Talk With Captain Lee and Kate.
The former Below Deck star, who welcomed her son in May, said Robinson, 42, has found the speculation to be funny, adding, “I think he loves it. Ben loves it more than I do for sure.”
Chastain has been addressing questions about her son’s paternity since she announced her pregnancy in December 2022. After confirming her plans to raise her child solo, Chastain slammed insinuations that Robinson secretly fathered Sullivan.
“It would be great if people would stop commenting and messaging me ‘baby Ben!’…….every single day,” she tweeted late last month alongside photos of Robinson, whom she briefly dated from 2014 to 2015, and her son as infants. “For reference this is Ben as a baby on the left next to Sullivan. Clearly not related.”
Chastain has been much more excited to discuss her baby boy’s milestones.
“It’s nice when you’re doing all this work to get a little reciprocation [such as] a little smile or a little giggle. That’s just nice. They change so fast at this age that every day he does something new and it’s how they get you,” she quipped to Us on Monday. “There’s so much work, but every day there is a new surprise. So it just keeps you in love with them, which is really smart on their part.”
She also opened up about her ongoing journey as a new mom.
“Sullivan’s 3 months now, so I think I’m finally finding a groove and I’m really enjoying it. I love it so much, but I am constantly shocked by how much work it is. And that’s coming from me who was known on Below Deck for working quite a lot. It’s a lot of work that I love so much,” Chastain shared. “Postpartum was no big deal [for me] just because I was so distracted by having this baby. I’m very fortunate in that way and I’m just absolutely obsessed with him.”
She continued: “A lot of my [family and] friends were like — before I had Sullivan — said, ‘Listen Kate, it’s OK if you don’t like him at first. Don’t feel bad.’ And I was like, ‘Does your child know you’ve are telling me this advice?’ So I’m very lucky that I’ve just been in love since day one.”
Captain Lee, 73, for his part, has been thrilled to see his offscreen friend embark on this next chapter of her life.
“I’ve said this to Kate before, I think the most apparent important thing about being a parent is to actually be a parent first,” he said during the joint interview. “You’ve got plenty of time to be their friend later. As they’re growing up, they need a parent.”
Even though Chastain has been enjoying her first months with Sullivan, Bravo fans shouldn’t expect to see the little one on screen just yet.
“We watch Bravo — Captain Lee and I — on Couch Talk past Sullivan’s bedtime sometimes,” Kate explained about why she hasn’t filmed with her baby for the show. “But in my household, Sullivan has to be a Bravo fan. That’s all we have on.”
Chastain went on to say that the best part of reuniting with Captain Lee has been hearing his hot takes on all things Bravo. “Captain Lee is so funny and I don’t know why I am constantly surprised by it,” she detailed. “On the phone or doing Couch Talk, I look at him and I’m just like, ‘You are so funny.’ I think I should just accept it. But he always surprises me with that.”
Lee, meanwhile, considers his Couch Talk series with Kate a project that was a long time coming.
“I’ve been looking forward to this for years because I’ve always thought that Kate and I had a certain chemistry that worked really well together. I tried to pitch Bravo on a talk show concept years ago and they just weren’t going for it until they did,” he told Us. “Doing this is much easier than [filming Below Deck]. It’s back to the good old days. If something needs to be done, Kate just does it. You don’t have to worry about it.”
Couch Talk With Captain Lee and Kate premieres on Bravo Monday, August 14 at 10 p.m.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
