Natalya Scudder from Below Deck Mediterranean is indirectly accusing Kyle Viljoen of warping Tumi Mhlongo’s opinion of her before they met. Tumi finally made it to the yacht Mustique in Italy after having visa issues in customs. She and Kyle were both stuck there and had to sit out the first charter. When Tumi met Natalya for the first time, it was clear there was some tension, and Natalya believed it had to do with Kyle.
Reddit user emergencyelk95, took a screengrab from Bravo’s Below Deck Instagram account. In the screengrab, Natalya’s going off in the comment section about Tumi and Kyle. Natalya’s first comment was, “My biggest pet peeve is when someone lets a certain person influence their opinion on someone before even meeting them.” Natalya is clearly talking about Tumi and how Kyle likely said some not-so-nice things about her after their charter season together on Below Deck Med season 7.
Below Deck Med’s Natalya Blasts Tumi As “Ungrateful”
In her next comment, she wrote, “My other pet peeve would be ungrateful people who can’t even say thank you for holding do the fort for 4 days, while being crew down, while setting up a boat, while running on no sleep.” During the most recent Below Deck Med season 8 episode, Tumi revealed in one of her confessionals that Kyle had warned her about Natalya. He told her how he and Natalya had their ups and downs last season, so Tumi was simply trying to make Natalya know that she was the boss. However, Natalya didn’t appreciate how Tumi didn’t give her the props for holding down the fort while she was gone.
Kyle clearly gave Tumi the rundown from last season and poisoned the relationship between Tumi and Natalya before it could even begin. It was clear when Natalya was showing Tumi the boat that Tumi had preconceived notions of Natalya. While Kyle and Natalya seemingly left the boat on good terms, it seems Kyle still had some issues with Natalya, some of which were shown in the Below Deck Med season 8 trailer.
Judging by the trailer, the interior crew is going to have some issues going forward. Even though Kyle still had some underlying issues with Natalya, he should have let Tumi have an opinion of her on her own. Kyle giving Tumi the rundown on Natalya before the start of the season could potentially ruin their season.
Below Deck Mediterranean airs Mondays at 9 p.m. EST on Bravo.
Sources: emergencyelk95/Reddit, Below Deck/Instagram
