The Below Deck Mediterranean interior team has been slipping as of late. Chief Stew Natasha Webb is preoccupied with texting her on-again off-again boyfriend, while love has struck Kyle Viljoen hard. That leaves third stew Natalya Scudder to pick up the slack, and go snitch on her co-workers to Captain Sandy Yawn. But despite having his head in the clouds, Kyle can still mix some mean cocktails and give the charter guests the vacay of a lifetime. Some more than others, apparently, and that’s where the speculation begins.
A few charters back, ycht guest Frank caught the eye of the vivacious second stew. Kyle and Frank started flirting hard, but kept it professional until the charter ended. Natasha defended her stew during the charter, saying, “He cannot go any further than flirting, so they need to be careful. If the captain finds out, he could lose his job over this.”
Once docked, however, Kyle and Frank met at a local bar and shared a passionate kiss onscreen. Since that episode, the two love-birds have kept in touch via text while Kyle finishes out the season.
When it all went down, the question was whether the new romance would affect Kyle’s work and how Captain Sandy would react to it. Entertainment Tonight addressed both points in a recent interview with the second stew.
Kyle defended his decision to pursue Frank. He explained, “I’m in a situation where I could potentially have the love of my life—and this has never happened to me—do I want to explore it? Honestly, it’d be silly not to.”
“In the gay community,” Kyle added, “it’s so difficult to find a partner because we are such a small community compared to the rest of the population around the world.”
As for the optics of flirting during the charter, Kyle doesn’t think Sandy will see any wrong-doing. He explained, “I kept my work priorities on the boat and I kept my personal life off. That’s exactly what I do on a day-to-day basis.”
Indeed, Kyle’s co-workers recognized his professionalism by encouraging him to go for the kiss post-charter. “They know I’m looking for love,” Kyle added, “and they’re all just being as supportive as they can.”
Ironically, the passion of the moment was dulled by copious amounts of alcohol. Kyle admitted, “I didn’t feel anything at that point, because I was like seven tequilas down.”
Here’s to hoping potential kiss number two is more memorable.
TELL US- WHAT IS YOUR REACTION TO KYLE’S FLIRTING DURING CHARTER? SHOULD HE HAVE GONE FOR THE KISS POST-DOCKING? DO YOU THINK KYLE AND FRANK WILL HOOK UP ONCE THE SEASON ENDS?
[Photo Credit: Laurent Basset/Bravo]