It’s never easy being the boss.
In an exclusive chat with E! News, Below Deck Mediterranean‘s Katie Flood, who is the season six chief stewardess, opened up about her interior crew on Lady Michelle, including the drama fans can expect from the new episodes. For those who may’ve missed it, the season six trailer teased plenty of push back from Katie’s team.
Specifically, we saw the chief stew facing off with one of her stewardesses, named Lexi Wilson. In the footage, Katie snapped, “Right now, I’m pissed off with you.”
Yet, as Lexi informed Katie in the trailer, she did not care. “I’m like, leaving,” she said before noting on the phone, “Hey, mom. I’m quitting this boat.”
Although Katie didn’t give too much away about the drama, she did acknowledge that, in the yachting industry, “s–t happens,” adding, “That’s why there’s a show about it.”
As she continued, the New Zealand yachtie reminded us that the job required people with “different personalities,” who have never met, to work together, noting, “It’s like, we’re still learning about each other, still figuring how to work together. In what world would that ever run completely smoothly?”
Katie said it was “impossible” to avoid any bumps in this job, describing the situation as “a navigational process.”
Thankfully, Katie did find an ally in fellow department head, Malia White. And it seems the chief stew and the returning bosun built a great friendship over the season as Katie revealed that she “would have not survived” without Malia.
Bravo“She is incredible, she is amazing at her job,” she said of her co-star. “And, you know, I think we worked really well together, which helped blend in the rest of the crew. There wasn’t really [adversity] between us and deck.”
The chief stew further praised Malia for her ability to wrangle the crew and to get them to work as a team. “I think together, we made that happen,” she continued. “And, you know, she saved my ass a lot of the time. You’ll see what I’m talking about. I could’ve not done the season without her.”
Later on, Katie made it clear that there is plenty of drama to expect during season six. Namely, she credited her upcoming “emotional moments” on TV to the pressures that come with being chief stew.
“I sure am not gonna enjoy watching myself cry on TV, I know my mom’s not gonna like that,” she elaborated. “I talk about it on the show, I do struggle with anxiety, and that was a really hard time for me, what I was going through at that particular time.”
While Katie said she isn’t looking forward to reliving those intense moments, she believes viewers “will be able to relate to” them.
Below Deck Mediterranean premieres Monday, June 28 at 9 p.m. on Bravo. All new episodes will be available on Peacock one week early, starting June 21.
(E!, Bravo and Peacock are all part of the NBCUniversal family.)
