This season of Below Deck started out so calm and cool in scorching hot Thailand. For a change, chief stew Kate Chastain was not letting anything ruffle her feathers for long. Kate’s inevitable ruffling initially came in the form of chef Kevin Dobson, who seemed to take an almost instant dislike to her. Kevin even called out her service in front of Captain Lee Rosbach during a tip meeting. Shockingly, Kate did not exact immediate revenge on Kevin.
Kate’s other source of consternation has been second stew Simone Mashile, who has expressed that she wants more responsibility. Kate has made it clear she doesn’t think Simone is a very good second stew, as she did not even know how to open a bottle of wine. Things went from bad to worse this week when a shady Kate gave second stew stripes to Courtney Skippon–in front of Simone! Kate said it was “both a reward for Courtney and a punishment for Simone.” So, where does all this leave Simone and Kate?
On a recent Watch What Happens Live, Kate was shown a series of clips of Simone, including a few in which she had some choice commentary for her chief stew. In one clip, Simone lets it be known that Kate will not get the best of her. She stated, “If Kate’s trying to get a reaction out of me, she’s got the wrong person, because I’m not that basic bitch.”
In another clip regarding her opinion of Kate, Simone said, “Anyway, she’s not my friend. She’s made that clear. She’s evil.” Which, to be fair, is probably not the first time Kate has heard the “E” word in reference to herself!
On WWHL, Kate was asked if anything she has heard on the show has changed her opinion of Simone. Kate declared, “I never really trusted Simone on the boat and that just kind of confirmed it, when I saw that behind my back she was saying I was evil and stuff, cuz to my face she was like ‘Oh, thank you.’ But there was something a little off.”
We all know Kate would never talk behind another crew member’s back! Certainly, Kate has had plenty of snarky comments for fellow crew members, from Beef Cheeks King Leon Walker to troubled stew Caroline Bedol and quirky stew Rocky Dakota.
Kate tends to always have a favorite stew each season–and the other stew is often on her naughty list. Is that was has happened with Simone? Courtney looked at first like she was going to be a lazy whiner, but actually turned out to be a good stew. Did this result in Simone falling out of Kate’s favor?
Simone might not be the best stew, but Kate has supervised worse. Kate’s keeping Simone in the laundry room on the first charters did her no favors as far as learning the service routine on the Valor. Although things don’t look promising for the two of them, maybe Kate and Simone will find a better way to work together before the end of the season.
TELL US–DO YOU THINK SIMONE HAS POTENTIAL TO BECOME A GOOD STEW? WHY HAS KATE BEEN ABLE TO KEEP HER COOL UNTIL THE LAST FEW EPISODES?
[Photo Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo]