Kyle Viljoen's Relationships, From Frank the Charter Guest To His Fiancé
After a little forbidden romance in Season 7 of Below Deck Mediterranean, the second stew met a new love.
After falling for charter guest Frank Fay in Season 7 of Below Deck Mediterranean, steward Kyle Viljoen is back on board and sailing to a new location in Season 8.
Spoiler alert: Things, unfortunately, did not work out for Kyle and Frank outside of Malta and off of the deck of Home. But now that Kyle is aboard the M/Y Mustique, sailing around the Italian riviera, he's revealed that he has a brand new beau, Dr. Zachary Riley, and things are going very well for the cute couple.
Go back to Kyle and Frank's first meeting, find out where they stand today, and learn more about the man Kyle is seeing now below.
Kyle Viljoen and Frank Fay met in Season 7 of Below Deck Med
Kyle, who was serving as second stew, met charter guest Frank in Season 7 Episode 8 of Below Deck Med and they instantly hit it off.
During a late night conversation between crew and guests in Season 7 Episode 9, Kyle described his attraction to Frank. "I never thought I would honestly be so attracted to another individual in a long while, and I saw your smile, and I was like, shook," Kyle said to Frank.
"He has this like, calming aura when I feel I'm around him, it keeps me very grounded and secure. I like, feel that energy and I want to be around it and get to know you more."
But, Kyle also knew the risk he could run by being so forward with a guest on the yacht. "I could definitely be fired by this interaction," he explained to the cameras. "But being a part of the LGBTQIA plus community, it's very difficult to find a true connection. What's more important? Job or romance?"
Kyle Viljoen and Frank Fay kissed on screen
Kyle, who described their connection as a "once in a million charters" thing, went out on the town and partied with fellow Home crew members and yacht guests once their charter was over. Kyle and Frank enjoyed dancing, drinks, and even got the chance to get closer than before, hugging one another all night. Although they promised one another to save their first kiss for their first date, they later made out in a tear-filled, romantic goodbye.
"I waited a long time to have a moment like this," Kyle said with tears in his eyes. "You never know what's going to happen in the future, especially with like, Frank and I, what's gonna go on. You don't want to be away from someone who makes you feel so good."
Captain Sandy said Kyle Viljoen broke rules with his romance
There are rules by which the crew has to abide during the charters and one of those is no flirting with the charter guests.
During the Below Deck Med Season 7 reunion, Captain Sandy admitted that she didn't know about Kyle's relationship with Frank — and wouldn't have let it slide if she had.
"I wasn't aware. I would have pulled Kyle aside and had the same conversation with him [about getting romantic with charter guests]," Captain Sandy told reunion host Andy Cohen. "It's a no-go zone. We all know that. I didn't know...no one made me aware about Kyle."
Kyle Viljoen's relationship with Frank Fay ended shortly after Below Deck Med
After the charter ended, Kyle and Frank did meet up again — but unfortunately things didn't work out between them. "Coming to New York, I came to get to know him for a week, but it didn't work out," Kyle said during a September 2022 appearance on the Mention it All podcast.
In Season 8, episode 3 of Below Deck Med, Kyle added a little more context to what happened. "After leaving motor yacht Home, I had a one-way ticket to meet Frank," he explained. "I realized there was no connection."
RELATED: Kyle Viljoen Reveals What Really Happened Between Him and Frank After Below Deck Med Season 7
"I normally try on shoes longer than I have dated Frank," he joked with podcast host, Dylan Hafer. "It was one of those moments that was so intense and then when you're dating, you know, you have such big googly eyes. You don't see the person's flaws or what else they are behind all of that. It takes three months to see if that person is going to work out for you or not. I didn't have three months, I had three days."
Kyle Viljoen and Frank Fay are still friends
Despite things ending between the two, Kyle said during as September 2022 appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen that he and Frank still keep in touch, especially now that Kyle lives in New York. "Frank actually lives five blocks away from me," he said. "We are still really good friends."
And at the end of the day, Kyle has no regrets about Frank, even if it didn't result in a lifelong romance. "It worked out more than I could have ever hoped for," he said on Mention it All. "Genuinely and truly more than I could have ever hoped for."
Kyle Viljoen met Zachary Riley in October 2021 and fell in love
In the same week in New York that Kyle and Frank decided to just be friends, Kyle met the love of his life, Zachary Riley, a 28-year-old physical therapist.
"I was in that apartment where we decided where we were going to be friends, went on a dating app, Grindr — my first time ever," Kyle explained on Mention it All. "There was one photo of Zachary and I was like 'Holy hell, this is like a normal dating profile.' [I] went through with it and that's how our relationship started."
In an Instagram post, Kyle wrote that he and Zach became official in November 2021, and moved in together a month later.
Kyle told Bravo Insider in July 2022 that he was very serious about his partner. "I am officially in a very, very loving, supportive, charismatic, outgoing, adventurous relationship," he said. "This man, Zachary, is definitely my future husband. There's no doubt about it."
And as it turns out, Zachary is also a huge Bravo fan. "He has watched every single episode of Below Deck imaginable, every Housewives imaginable, from the first episode up until the latest," he told Bravo Insider. "He is the biggest fan. He has the utmost respect for [Captain Sandy]. Obviously, [she's] very relatable to our community."
Kyle Viljoen and Zachary Riley got engaged in November 2022
Kyle proposed to Zachary in November 2022 in South Africa, which Kyle announced in the sweetest Instagram post "Zachary and I are officially engaged and to my universe I want to thank you for loving me unconditionally, desirably, and with full intent to be my forever and always," he wrote in the caption of the post.
In the caption of an Instagram post from this past January, Kyle revealed that he and Zachary have moved into a new place together and are in the process of planning their wedding. Although their relationship has been a bit of a whirlwind so far, Kyle defended their timeline in the caption of an Instagram post. "There will be something about this timeline that will make others feel uncomfortable, that will make it seem too soon is too soon and others will say they understand and can compare," he wrote.
"What I can say is this is the first time I felt love, love for me was the ability to trust my partner, the unconditional care, the sneaky farts and running away, the morning coffees and the evening dinners, the challenges we face, the growth we witness within one another and realizing home is wherever I find him, my best friend, my partner!"
As if it could not be any more obvious from their respective Instagram accounts, Kyle and Zachary are so in love with one another. Zachary is constantly posting about Kyle and Kyle is constantly singing the praises of his fiancé on Instagram, whom he has called his "best friend, security, and love of my life."
"Zachary does so many things that I never knew I needed," Kyle said on Mention it All. "I never knew I had in me and that's what he brings to me every single God damn day. And being away from him is even torturous. So I literally know I found my life partner this way."
Kyle Viljoen and his fiancé Zachary Riley are stronger than ever, he said at BravoCon 2023
Both Kyle and Zachary made an appearance at the "Below Deck Crew" panel at BravoCon 2023: Zachary was sitting in the audience while Kyle joined several cast members from the multiple Below Deck franchises. When congratulated on his engagement, Kyle called himself "very, very lucky," gave a shoutout to his fiancé — "Love you, honey" — and updated fans on their relationship.
“It has been quite a journey, coming out to New York, transporting my whole life,” he said. “But I’m so happy.”
Kyle explained that was able to be grounded in reality and his relationship once he got off the ship. “Listen,” he said. “When you actually get off the boat and realize how grounded something is, that’s what I found in my future husband, was absolute ground.”
Originally published Oct 14, 2023.
