Below Deck's Simone Mashile Clarifies Why She Really Confronted Kate Chastain
"It was a disaster of a conversation," the Below Deck second stew said.
Neither Kate Chastain nor Simone Mashile have been happy with the second stew's performance this season of Below Deck. All of those feelings came to a head in the December 2 episode when Simone confronted Kate in the hopes of getting more time on service and less in the laundry room.
Unfortunately for Simone, Kate didn't agree with the second stew that she has what it takes to be put on service, ending the episode on a tense note as we wait to see how this conversation concludes in the next episode of Below Deck on December 9. "It was a disaster of a conversation," Simone said during the Below Deck Season 7 After Show, above.
Kate said that she had given Simone plenty of chances to try her hand at service this season with little success. "Simone is great for morale. I appreciate her enthusiasm," she said. "However, she just doesn't know the basics of anything that you need to know to be serving yacht guests. She wanted to do service, but every chance I gave her at service..."
"Sucked," Captain Lee Rosbach chimed in during the After Show.
Kate said that Simone should have come into the second stew role this charter season having already mastered these skills rather than hoping to be trained in them. "I don't mind training her, but there are some times when it's not appropriate to train somebody," she shared. "It's not fair to the charter guests if I'm training Simone."
Captain Lee also provided some of his typical hard-boiled wisdom. "Yachts don't come with training wheels," he said.
Simone said she felt like this discussion with Kate "definitely" changed their relationship for the remainder of the charter season. "I think she thought I was coming from a place of malice and just trying to question her authority and her decision-making," she explained.
Kate also confirmed in the After Show that she felt like Simone "didn't trust [her] judgment."
"It's like, Simone, the only thing you're really good at is laundry, so you're gonna do that. And Courtney [Skippon], you're really good at service, so you're gonna do that," Kate said. "And we're all getting a lot of money, and that's called work."
Ultimately, Simone said that she feels like the whole thing was a big misunderstanding. "The whole season, I'm feeling bad for Kate for getting a stew like me, you know? No, seriously, that was the case. That's why I started crying when she said that," she shared. "It wasn't like against her; it was just like me coming from a place of trying to understand."
We'll see how this chat ends for Kate and Simone in an all-new episode of Below Deck on December 9 at 9/8c. Watch a preview, below.
