Below Deck Med: The Beef Between Natalya And Kyle Fully Explained
"Below Deck Mediterranean" Season 8 has been a rollercoaster ride. With Bosun Ruan Irving leaving before the first charter due to forged documents and the crew dropping like flies from one illness to another, the drama was nonstop. Right smack in the middle of it all was the feud between Kyle Viljoen and Natalya Scudder. The two stews were already pretty familiar with each other, having worked together during Season 7, which is when they first clashed. Viljoen and Natasha Webb were often seen laughing and socializing, leaving Scudder to pick up the cleaning slack. Her frustration at them led to blowups between her and Viljoen, leading to a very tense "Below Deck Med" reunion.
Viljoen stirred up more drama with Scudder before setting foot on the Mustique for Season 8. It was revealed that he had warned Chief Stew Tumi Mhlongo about Scudder's fiery personality while they were both detained at customs. While he and Scudder were initially excited to work together again, things just went downhill from there, and a particularly nasty fight sent the stew packing her bags to go home.
Kyle rebuked Natalya after she stuck up for a crewmate
Kyle Viljoen and Natalya Scudder were frenemies but turned into all-out enemies after a night out. As the group was gathered around the crew mess, deckhand Max Salvador told Viljoen that he considered himself part of the LGBTQ+ community despite being straight. Viljoen, who is gay, asserted that Salvador couldn't lump himself in with the group and stated, "Support your straightness and show your allyship for us. That's it." When Scudder tried to defend the deckie, her fellow stew went off. "I don't give a f**k about our friendship. Our friendship's never been real. You've been a fake-a** b***h, talking s**t behind my back since day one," he yelled. When he wouldn't stop with the vitriol, Scudder walked away. The next day, she told Captain Sandy Yawn what had happened and made the decision to quit mid-season.
In a surprising twist, Scudder came back before the season ended and crashed a crew night out. She and Viljoen talked things out, during which he apologized to her for his part in their fight. He confessed that he took out his anger on her, which was really aimed at Salvador. Viljoen told the cameras later that he felt a sense of closure from the drama, but things heated up again when the two yachties reunited at BravoCon.
Kyle and Natalya's feud continued after the show
It seems there were still hurt feelings after "Below Deck Med" Season 8 ended. While doing BravoCon 2023 interviews, Natalya Scudder told TVLine that Kyle Viljoen was the one to blame for their fallout. "We are definitely not friends, and we won't be [talking], and I think he caused some drama intentionally, and I think he purposely tried to sabotage my season," she firmly stated. During the "Below Deck" panel, Viljoen tried to say some nice things about Scudder, but she wasn't buying his compliments and shut him down, saying, "You've had the last, I think, year to talk to me and maybe reach out and say something positive and I think you're choosing only right now because everyone's here."
Scudder and Viljoen must have made up shortly after, as he posted a selfie of the two together on November 28, 2023. "It has been a year in the making but time heals most wounds however, we're just glad to being back as friends again," he wrote on Instagram. "We both realized we were going through the thick of it at the time the season started a year ago, especially within our personal lives but were so glad that we have each other to rely on, now more than ever," Viljoen continued. Scudder replied, "Life is way too short for bad vibes! Truly so happy that we are entering the new year with a clean slate." Hopefully, their cease-fire will last this time.