After six seasons on the hit series Below Deck, chief stew Kate Chastain announced her
shocking retirement in February 2020.
With viewers left wondering what's next for the hilarious reality star, we're sailing
full steam ahead into the untold truth of Kate Chastain.
"Oh here we go."
If you ever wondered what Chastain was up to when she wasn't appearing on Below Deck,
she's been spending her time penning a book: her 2016 autobiography Lucky Charming.
She explained on Twitter at the time,
"Long before Below Deck even existed I started writing a book about life on yachts.
And now I've finally finished it."
In the book, Chastain muses about what led her into the yachting industry, and everything
she learned along the way.
While speaking with The Daily Dish, she teased,
"I think it's a really interesting glimpse into a world that not a lot of people get
to experience.
There's travel, there's celebrities, there's just the story of a girl who gets into adventure."
"Fire dancing and flower crowns, we are not in the Caribbean anymore."
However, the reality TV star also admitted that her sea-worthy job wasn't all smooth
sailing.
She revealed,
"I might have been the worst chief stew in the history of all chief stews on my first
try…and my second.
But eventually, after another year of trial and error, I got the hang of being Head B----
In Charge."
"I felt pretty special in that moment."
Below Deck fans will be well aware that during Season 7, Simone Mashile wasn't exactly feeling
her laundry room duty.
But Chastain revealed that all interior staff spend copious amounts of time in the laundry
room throughout their careers.
And even she had to pay her dues.
Sharing a throwback photo of herself brandishing an iron and tackling the laundry, Chastain
wrote on Instagram,
"I wasn't always a Chief Stew…For 6 straight months in 2008 I was on laundry duty…It's
not punishment, it's earning your rank."
And that's not all.
Chastain doubled down on why laundry duty wasn't so bad during a Below Deck: After Show
episode.
She explained,
"I love the laundry room.
Let me tell you all the reasons I love the laundry room.
First of all, you're away from the guests and the crew.
It's like your own private clubhouse."
The reality star also made the less-than-glamorous role sound like a welcome break from the usual
duties on board.
She added,
"You get to play music.
On a yacht, everywhere else, no music.
You're in your own zone.
You're in your own clubhouse."
"Laundry room everybody leaves you alone."
If you ever find yourself working on a yacht and desperately need some alone time, it sounds
like the laundry room is the place to be.
"You'll f--- up dinner, you won't.
You'll f--- up dinner, you won't.
This could take a while."
Having previously dated men throughout her time on the show, Chastain revealed that she
had dated a woman, Ro Hernandez, in January 2016.
"Everyone loves Ro."
The chief stew told The Daily Dish,
"I think every single human that knows me is going to be surprised by the news because
this is out of character for me.
If I break up with this girl, I don't think I would really be interested in dating girls
after this.
I don't really think about labeling it too much."
"But then one night I kissed her.
I dunno where it came from."
Hernandez even visited Chastain on the yacht during Season 4, and was introduced to the
stew's fellow crew mates, proving just how serious their relationship was at the time.
But making a connection with Hernandez appeared to surprise even Chastain herself.
She told The Daily Dish,
"We just met in our hometown at a bar one night and started chatting…She's amazing.
I never, ever imagined myself dating a girl.
I never was attracted to girls.
So I'm a little caught off guard, but she's just a really special person."
"I think anybody who's ever fallen in love knows that the first three months are just
like you can't get enough."
Sadly, Chastain's relationship with Hernandez was not meant to be.
The couple split later in 2016 after the Bravo star was arrested, following a domestic altercation.
According to TMZ, Chastain allegedly…
"Tried to kick her drunk girlfriend out of their house and when she refused, Kate bit
her in the forearm, bicep and leg.
Cops say Kate also put a knee on her head, choked her, and tried to stop her breathing."
Florida Today reported on the police body cam footage in which Chastain discussed her
relationship and the alleged abuse she experienced.
Chastain later revealed on Watch What Happens Live,
"As much as I would love to speak about this, and I've wanted to for a while, I've been
advised not to because it's still pending…But I'll just say that I have dangerously bad
taste in romantic partners, but luckily, I have impeccable taste in attorneys."
"I really just hope this boat sinks."
She also went on to explain to The Daily Dish,
"I'm looking forward, very much so, to having my day in court."
In June 2017, Radar Online reported that Chastain's case was downgraded from a felony to a misdemeanor,
and in October of that same year, the chief stew told Entertainment Tonight that the charges
had been dropped altogether.
"Don't make me be the bad guy because I can be a very bad bad guy."
Since her very public split from her ex-girlfriend, Chastain has been much more cautious when
it comes to dating, and has become considerably more private.
She revealed that she now knows that people can change for the worse, and she told People
magazine in October 2018 that her new mantra was:
"Definitely to not be as open about who I'm dating.
Fortunately that's all gone away, but I'm a little more cautious about who I date."
In February 2019, The Daily Dish reported that Chastain had been dating a new man while
filming Season 6 of Below Deck.
However, it seems the reality star wasn't all that smitten with her new guy.
She told the outlet,
"You know, everybody's great when you first start dating them, and then you like get to
know them and then you're like, 'Ugh, what a weird one.'"
Perhaps Chastain is just waiting for the right captain to come along.
Anyone who watched the 2020 Below Deck reunion knows that not all of the cast members remain
friends after a charter season has ended.
However, Chastain appears to have made several friends for life during her time on the show,
and that includes former deckhand Connie Arias, whom she'd actually known for years before
they ever became yachties.
"I love having Connie on the boat.
I feel like I'm her yachtie godmother."
In an interview with The Daily Dish, Chastain explained,
"Connie arranged for all of us to go out to this ranch and have bonfires and ride swamp
buggies.
So I brought my girlfriend, and Connie was so funny.
She called her 'the lesbian Justin Timberlake.'"
Then in December 2018, Arias and Chastain teamed up for charity.
Alongside a Twitter video, Chastain wrote,
"Connie and I jumped behind the bar last night for a bit to help out at the Mainstreet Pub
Genesis House benefit last night.
Thanks to everyone who came out!"
By December the following year, Chastain proved that their friendship was still going strong
when she posted some Instagram snaps taken with Arias and wrote,
"Some things never change."
These celebrity pals even share a birthday, which they regularly celebrate with adorable
social media posts to one another.
In January 2020, Arias joked,
"Happy birthday to us!!! #gladyourefaraway #tootiredforfun."
For everyone shipping Chastain and Below Deck chef Ben Robinson, it seems that the pair
has remained very close indeed.
While they aren't dating, they still have a lot of fondness for one another.
During an appearance on Watch What Happens Live, Chastain joked about her favorite chef
on the show, saying,
"My favorite is probably Ben.
And that might be 'cause we had sex."
In August 2019, Chastain shared a bed selfie on Twitter, taken with Robinson to celebrate
his return to the show, writing,
"Yay!
Chef Ben is back on Bravo TV."
That same year, Robinson confirmed that he also had a lot of love for the chief stew,
telling People TV,
"Kate is a really good friend, and sometimes really good friends get really drunk and do
really inappropriate things to one another.
Maybe we've closed that chapter."
That December, Chastain celebrated Robinson's birthday with a throwback photo and wrote:
"Happy Birthday to my dear friend [Ben Robinson].
[By the way] just realized we have like 2 photos together after all these years so next
time let's take some selfies XO."
Who knows what the future could hold for these two!
If you thought that fellow chief stews, Hannah Ferrier and Chastain, were best friends, think
again.
In October 2019, Chastain confirmed to Bravo TV,
"A lot of people that work with Hannah also work with me, and people tell me things that
are said.
And so, at this point, it's just like I don't really want to be friends with somebody that
said bad things about me."
Despite previously seeming close, and even posting selfies together, Chastain and Ferrier's
friendship is no more.
During an appearance on the Juicy Scoop with Heather McDonald podcast, Chastain opened
up about her feud with Ferrier, but suggested that she might have been open to reuniting
with Below Deck Mediterranean's chief stew.
However, Ferrier appears to have ghosted Chastain, who revealed, via Cheat Sheet,
"She has not replied, that was in August…She never replied to the message.
It's like if you're really my friend I'd be like, 'Oh my God, I'm so sorry.
I did say that.'
Or just answer or deny it!
She just never even answered."
"You only have so much time in your life to stay in touch with people."
Chastain even tweeted about the situation and told a fan,
"Unfortunately I don't consider people who talk poorly about me behind my back to be
a friend."
It seems unlikely that we're going to see Below Deck's famous chief stews on the same
yacht anytime soon.
Chastain's professional onscreen chemistry with Captain Lee Rosbach isn't just for the
cameras.
And although they're best friends now, their friendship apparently got off to a rocky start
when Chastain joined Below Deck for Season 2.
The chief stew revealed on an episode of the Below Deck: After Show,
"My first season working for Captain Lee, we didn't really get along.
There was so much going on with the TV show that there wasn't a lot of chance for us to
interact.
We were thrown into it."
"I think the first season was a throw away waffle."
But since then, they've become family.
In fact, the pair has gotten so close that they regularly post photos of one another
on social media.
In one Instagram snap, Rosbach posed with Chastain and his wife, Mary Anne, and wrote,
"How lucky can one guy get."
While Below Deck Season 7 saw its fair share of drama on the yacht, Captain Lee remained
committed to his friendship with the unbeatable chief stew.
On another episode of the Below Deck: After Show, Rosbach explained,
"The thing with Kate and I is, she's one of my best friends.
She's a really, really caring person.
I don't look at Kate as an employee.
We're coworkers.
She runs her department, and I run mine.
She's the best there is."
"There aren't many people in the world that you can count on like that."
While it was purely a coincidence, Chastain's retirement from the show happened to follow
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's decision to step down as senior members of the royal
family.
Having already hinted that she might step away from the Bravo series, Chastain took
to Instagram in February 2020 to write,
"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.
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."
Of course, Chastain's statement mimicked the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's announcement
regarding the since-coined "Megxit."
Part of Markle and Prince Harry's Instagram statement revealed their continued support
of "Her Majesty The Queen."
As Chastain is indeed Below Deck royalty at this point, she will most definitely be missed!
Having previously been based in Florida when she wasn't sailing the world with Captain
Lee on Below Deck, Chastain decided to move to New York City upon her retirement.
On the Season 7 finale, Chastain explained,
"Personally, this has been a very challenging season for me.
I'm going to go spend a week alone in a resort and relax.
Then, head back to Florida, pack up my life, and move to New York.
I'm scared to move to New York, but I was also scared to start yachting, and I think
I'm ready for a new adventure."
"Rent is so expensive in New York, especially in the area I am, that I'm in a very small
apartment, like, shockingly small."
It seems that Chastain has since settled into big city life.
In March 2020, she tweeted a video of her dog, Halo, and wrote,
"Officially moved from a studio apartment into a place with an actual living room."
"It's better than a boat.
It's still bigger than the crew quarters."
Maybe another reason that Chastain isn't desperate to find a romantic partner is because she
has one of the most adorable pets on the planet.
This Below Deck star owns a Havanese pup called Halo, who has fast become one of the most
pampered pooches on the internet.
In early 2020, Chastain shared a snap of Halo looking decidedly rugged, writing,
"Yes I know my dog needs a haircut but we're both still traumatized from the grooming gone
wrong in 2016."
As for the pair's big move to New York, Halo apparently had some major feels about living
in the Big Apple.
Chastain posted in March 2020,
"Halo is in absolute SHOCK over all the space in our new, amazing, much larger apartment.
(But also the groomer cut his bangs off so that might just be what his eyes look like
in real life.)"
Chastain is such an attentive pet parent that she even took to Twitter to ask fellow dog
owners for advice when Halo's fur changed color.
She hilariously wrote,
"I feel like Halo is going through that awkward teenage phase…He looks so different and
I'm just wondering what color he's going to end up at."
Petition for Bravo to greenlight a new show about Chastain and Halo's big city adventures!
It's clear that there are big things ahead for Below Deck's unforgettably candid chief
stew.
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