Kate Chastain Reacts to Below Deck Season 8 Following Her Departure from the Show
This will be the first time Below Deck will have a new chief stew since Season 2.
Below Deck Season 8 will be the first time in six seasons that Kate Chastain won't be serving as chief stew. But that doesn't mean Kate is any less excited for the new season, which premieres on Monday, November 2 at 9/8c.
Following the announcement of the upcoming premiere of Season 8 of Below Deck on September 21, Kate sent her love to her longtime crew mate and friend, Captain Lee Rosbach, on the next installment of the series ahead. "Congratulations @capthlr on the new season," Kate tweeted, along with the raised hands emoji.
Kate announced that she would not be returning to Below Deck after six seasons as chief stew in February following the airing of Part 2 of the Season 7 reunion. "After many months of reflection and internal discussions, I have chosen to make a transition this year in starting to carve out a progressive new land based role," she wrote in a post on Instagram at the time. "I intend to step back as a senior member of the Below Deck Family and work to become financially independent, while continuing to fully support His Majesty Andy Cohen.”
Captain Lee will welcome new chief stew Francesca Rubi in Season 8. However, the crew won't be completely new for Captain Lee. Eddie Lucas will be back as bosun this season, marking his return to Below Deck for the first time since Season 3.
They will be joined by chef Rachel Hargrove, stews Elizabeth Frankini and Isabelle "Izzy" Wouters, and deckhands James Hough and Shane Coopersmith.
Captain Lee shared his excitement for the new season of Below Deck in a post following the announcement on September 21, sharing that he is "going into my happy dance."
Eddie also couldn't be more thrilled about his Below Deck return. "I'm BACK!" he exclaimed in a post on Instagram on September 21. "Excited to share that I'm on the upcoming season of @belowdeckbravo!"
Kate may not be in the new season of Below Deck, but you'll still see plenty of her on Bravo. She continues to break down Season 5 of Below Deck Mediterranean in special Watch With Kate episodes airing every Tuesday at 9/8c through September 29.
Kate will also be appearing and serving as executive producer of the new late night talk show Bravo's Chat Room, along with Summer House's Hannah Berner, The Real Housewives of Potomac's Gizelle Bryant, and The Real Housewives of Atlanta's Porsha Williams, who is also an executive producer. The new series premieres Sunday, September 27 at 10:30/9:30c.
