‘Below Deck Med’: Kyle Slams Natalya – ‘She Never Once Asked Me About My Life’ [Exclusive]
In a surprising admission, Kyle Viljoen from Below Deck Mediterranean slammed Natalya Scudder, sharing that the budding friendship seen on the show wasn’t as tight as it appeared.
Before their Below Deck Med fallout, Viljoen and Scudder seemed to be developing a close friendship. Even after they wrapped filming, they described each other as having a “brother and sister” relationship. But Viljoen recently revealed that the relationship was one-way where he did most of the listening and Scudder never asked him questions about his life.
Natalya ‘never once asked about my life” on ‘Below Deck Med’, Kyle Viljoen said
“I have no regrets with the whole Natalya situation,” he told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “I feel like I was open with her from the get go. She never once asked me about my life. Not how old I am, where I’m from. Nothing the entire time.”
“I’ve heard about her and Storm [Smith],” he continued. “I’ve heard about her previous relationship situations that she came with. I was open to listening and being there for her because that’s what friends do. We are not only work colleagues, but friends.”
But he insisted she asked nothing about him. “She knows nothing about me,” he asserted. “And now I’m realizing after the fact from like, how am I calling you a friend if you’re not giving me friend vibes?”
Natalya’s problems stemmed from her frustration with Natasha, Kyle said
Viljoen said most of their problems stemmed from Scudder’s frustration with chief stew Natasha Webb. But he was swept up in the drama and caught in the middle. “Natalya never, ever made it verbally, physically, emotionally evident that she wanted to be chief stew. Even throughout the season, we were never like, ‘We can do a better job [than Natasha Webb].’ So it was never me saying that Natalya is coming for Natasha because of the hierarchy,” he said. “I do agree, me and her are very strong together. Natasha and Natayla, we’re on the same level.”
“So the Natalya situation was like she was not being heard, she was not being seen,” he said. “And that was all stemming from the chief stew aspect of things. Like, there’s only so much I can do within my position and my pay grade and my title. I can’t make changes for the chief stew. That’s not my role and responsibilities.”
Viljoen was glad the interior met as a team shortly before he was injured and had to leave. “Of course, I felt like we needed a meeting. I agree we deserve that meeting to come together and hash it out before it all exploded. It’s not my job to do so, right?” he said. “I’m not the one that has the problem. You guys have the problem. And I’m drawn into this to try and protect us and, you know, cancel out of any more dramatics that could have come up. “
Would Kyle work with the ‘Below Deck Med’ crew again?
Despite all the drama, Viljoen said he’d work with everyone again from the crew, including Scudder. He also would love to work with stew Elena Dubaich, who replaced him.
“But as for the other crew members, I would genuinely work with every single one of them because I know that through time you learn, you change, you adapt,” he said, adding that he hopes that he’s evolved since Below Deck Med Season 7.
“And that goes with Natasha,” he added. “She could hash out all these relationship issues that she’s experiencing and could be a solid, confident woman by then. I give people the options to change and I let go.”
Viljoen then addressed Scudder. “The thing I hold onto is I needed you to acknowledge that you caused hurt on this boat too,” he said. “And the way you spoke to Storm. The way you spoke to Jason [Gaskell]. It was brought up multiple times. The way you spoke to Dave [White], Natasha, and then you tried with me and that’s why I cut you off, because it’s like it’s gone on too long. That was my issue. But I’d work with every single one of them again in hopes that all of us have evolved and have become different in the best ways.”
