All Aboard! Aesha Scott and fiance Scott Dobson embark on Amazing Race adventure

She’s used to calling the shots as ‘Chief Stew’ on Below Deck Down Under. But when New Zealand-born Aesha Scott signed on to appear with her fiance Scott Dobson in the latest season of The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition, she knew she’d have to swallow her pride.

“The hardest part of doing the race with Scott was that we were both Chief Stews, and I had to do things the way he thought we should do it sometimes,” she explains.

“The leader in me didn’t like it, but I know I’m not always right so it was for the best.

“Thankfully, Scott is the least demanding human I know — ridiculously so.

“He squirms if anyone does anything for him!”

The couple, who have been engaged since May 2024, are one of 13 teams racing their way around the world for this year’s season, travelling to all sorts of far-flung places including Nepal, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, the island of Java and in a first for the show, Uzbekistan.

The teams this year draw from a broad cross-section of the sport and entertainment world, and include MasterChef’s Melissa Leong and her best friend Leah Wilson, TikTok brothers Luke and Sassy Scott, Rob Mills and his fiance Georgie Tunny, footballer Brendan Fevola and his daughter Leni, and Ed Kavalee and his The Biggest Loser trainer wife, Tiffiny Hall.

Scott, who placed third in the ninth season of I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here, makes for a formidable, albeit extremely smiley, competitor.

“I’m very competitive with games, and when I get into that competitive headspace I can be a bit bossy, so I think poor Scott got a bit of ‘bossy Aesha’ this season!” she admits.

Scott, a reality TV veteran, jumped at the chance to take part in the race, as it meant she could raise some much-needed funds for her charity of choice, Peace of Mind Foundation, which offers support and guidance to patients and families going through brain cancer treatment.

It’s a cause close to her heart.

“I chose Peace of Mind Foundation because my dear brother Reuben passed from brain cancer when he was 24,” Scott explains.

“I was 20: watching him go through that was absolutely heartbreaking, and so often I didn’t know what to do or how to help … having that support there is so helpful during what is nothing but a cruel experience.”

Along with the racers, Host Beau Ryan is returning to officiate the race, there to meet the contestants as they finish each section of their journey, raising that famous eyebrow as they step onto the mat to find out their fate.

“Beau’s eyebrow! My heart sank waiting to hear whether we would be going or staying — nauseating!” she laughs.

But Scott is nothing if not relentlessly optimistic, and her optimism served her well during the competition.

She’s ready for whatever comes next.

“My dream is to become a TV presenter, so I’m building up my name to try to get there one day,” she explains.

Scott also has a side hustle, and is the face of an alcoholic coconut water brand, Drop.

“We’re launching in the US in a couple of months, so that’s really exciting,” she says.

“I think it will do super well there.”

In the meantime, she’s in New Zealand with Dobson, and the two are busily planning for their upcoming wedding.

“(We want to) really prioritise quality time with our families,” she adds. “(And) wedding planning is great, it’s all done!

“I don’t know why people get so stressed, I planned the whole thing in one afternoon! Our venue is in our hometown, we’re doing Thai food for the catering and I have a sax-playing DJ coming.

“I can’t wait to marry Scott!”

The Amazing Race Australia: Celebrity Edition premieres Monday September 8 on Ten.