‘Below Deck Med’ Kiss: ‘I Always Thought Guests Were off Limits,’ Courtney Veale Says [Exclusive]
Did Kyle Viljoen cross the line on Below Deck Mediterranean with that now-infamous kiss? Sure Viljoen massively flirted with the charter guests. And he definitely did more lounging than serving the guests when they were on board Home.
But did he break code on Below Deck Med when he kissed charter guest Frank Fay? Viljoen and Fay had a romantic kiss outside a bar after Fay’s charter had ended. Many crew members say that hooking up with a charter guest after the charter ends is fair game. But Below Deck Med deckhand Courtney Veale admitted she was pretty surprised when she saw them kissing.
Courtney wasn’t sure what the rule was about kissing a guest after charter
Veale said hooking up with a charter guest while on charter is totally wrong. But whether it is off limits after the charter was more of a grey area for her. “In the past, I’ve always thought kind of guests were off limits,” she told Showbiz Cheat Sheet.
“But then again, obviously, you don’t usually see guests after the trip,” she added. “So I’ve never really known the rules for afterward. I mean, they did wait until afterward, which is good I think. And I think the only issue with that whole thing was when work was being kind of sacrificed. But that wasn’t just Kyle, that was a couple of different situations.” Chef Dave White and chief stew Natasha Webb didn’t communicate about a wine pairing dinner, which ended up being a mess.
Captain Sandy gave Kyle the ‘green light’ for romance post-charter
Veale also recalled how Captain Sandy Yawn gave Viljoen the “green light” too. “Like, always follow your heart,” she recalled. “If you have a connection you can’t just let it go. So I think he kind of got the green light and it wasn’t on the boat. It’s not like they were coming back to the boat. So it wasn’t going to affect him in the workplace afterward. I mean, honestly, it was just a surreal event to us as it was all happening … Raining, we were all in the taxi and yeah, it really seemed like it was a little crazy. I don’t think I’ve ever gone out with charter guests after the trip. That was pretty cool.”
Yawn agreed. “What they do once they are off the vessel in their personal lives is their personal decision,” she told US Weekly. “So, if they want to hook up with clients after they’re signed off the vessel, go for it,” she added. “I’m all about love. I found love. I want everybody to have love, but you can’t do it in a professional setting.”
Adding, “Let’s not forget seasons back when that happened with another crew member. You just never want to cross that line. In the corporate world, it doesn’t happen.” Charter guest hookups went down on both Below Deck and Below Deck Med in the past and not all of them were off charter. For instance, cameras caught deckhand Bobby Giancola kissing a charter guest on a jet ski.
A guest and crew member also kiss on ‘Below Deck Down Under’
A charter guest and crew member kissed after the charter ended on Below Deck Down Under. The crew met up with a group of charter guests at a bar after the charter ended and deckhand Culver Bradbury kissed one of the guests.
Chief stew Aesha Scott told Showbiz Cheat Sheet, that the kiss wasn’t a great look because Bradbury and deckhand Brittini Burton had been flirting. But there was nothing wrong with kissing a guest after the charter ends. “Once they’re off the boat it’s free rein. They’re all adults,” she said. “They can do what they want. On the boat, you really shouldn’t. But if they want to give you their number and you have a little cheeky kiss afterward, then go for it.”
Below Deck Mediterranean is on Monday at 8 pm ET on Bravo. Plus, episodes drop one week early on Mondays on Peacock.
