Elizabeth Chambers Compares ‘Grand Cayman’ Drama to ‘Dealing with Kids’ (Exclusive)

Elizabeth Chambers wasn’t a reality TV superfan prior to signing up for Grand Cayman: Secrets in Paradise.

“This is absolutely the antithesis of everything I’ve ever done, professionally speaking,” Chambers, 41, who has a background in journalism, tells PEOPLE. “I was definitely not sure of it.”

On the new reality show, the star — who moved to the island four years ago with her kids Harper, 9, and Ford, 7, and now-ex Armie Hammer (they split in 2020) — is shown opening a location of her BIRD Bakery on Grand Cayman.

“It’s really rare that you have an opportunity to document that journey, and I’m grateful,” says Chambers. “I’m very, very grateful for this island and for this country. To be able to really document us putting our roots down here … it just felt like, ‘Okay, maybe this is never anything I anticipated doing, but why not?'”

Aside from the “challenging” time launching the bakery internationally, Chambers finds herself mixed up in drama with her Grand Cayman costars in regards to scandals surrounding Hammer, 37.

She compares handling reality-TV drama to her experiences “dealing with kids.”

“I mean, I love confrontation — if it’s something that’s really productive in my business or something that is working towards a goal,” says Chambers. “I really am so immersed in my work and my kids all the time that I don’t really understand confrontation for the sake of confrontation.”

Chambers adds that it’s especially hard for her when the conflicts stem from “something that didn’t happen or that happened in someone’s brain.”

“I’m usually like, ‘Okay, I’m trying to live in your reality. Let’s work through this. But, also, this does not feel like my reality,'” she explains. “So in terms of that kind of confrontation, I think it’s kind of like dealing with kids or with adults that are trying to find their toolbox. It’s like, ‘Let’s work through this.'”

Still, however, “Sometimes if you do feel that it’s not being presented in a fair way or you’re being attacked, sometimes that can be more reactive than I would like.”

“I think we’re all just figuring it out and doing our best,” says Chambers. “And if somebody feels offended by something that they think I did, I assure you my intentions are always good. So I just hopefully can de-escalate that situation and help them move on from whatever’s bothering them.”

Several of Chambers’ Grand Cayman castmates told PEOPLE about their approach to conflicts that play out on camera. Courtney McTaggart, one of the primary costars to have an issue with Chambers during season 1, says she doesn’t like drama but is also “very to-the-point” as a person.

“If there’s an elephant in the room, the best thing to do in such a small place like Cayman is to discuss it, to have a mature conversation,” says the local, 34. “I’ve never had a problem with being that person. Sometimes there’s good results and sometimes there’s bad ones. But at least there’s honesty.”

Chambers admits she personally has “no filter,” which has gotten her into trouble in the past.

“When I was in high school, I’d never smoked a cigarette, I didn’t drink until I was 22, I had perfect grades — but I was always grounded for telling people to go f— themselves,” she recalls with a laugh. “But what you see is exactly what you get. I always have a point of view.”

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New episodes of Grand Cayman: Secrets in Paradise air Tuesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET on Freeform and streams the next day on Hulu.