Although she was used to being chief stew Aesha Scott’s right-hand woman for the first few charters of Below Deck Mediterranean Season 10, all of that changed for Kizzi Kitchener when new stewardess Cathy Skinner joined the crew in Episode 7. By the end of their first charter together, second stew Kizzi felt she was no longer at the top of Aesha’s list.
“She’s the golden girl now,” Kizzi said of Cathy in her confessional interview during the supersized Episode 8. “And that’s fine. She can have that. It is what it is.”
Cathy joined the interior team to fill Victoria SanJuan’s vacancy after she jumped to the deck crew following two firings. Although she signed on for the third stew role, she had spent the past two years working as a chief stew on another yacht. Cathy called herself “bossy,” “organized” and a “clean freak.” Then, Kizzi’s fears came true when Aesha brought her team together to make a change after the guests departed.
“I just wanted to say thank you so much for making me so proud every single day,” Aesha began, and addressed Cathy. “You’re so experienced.”
Kizzi chimed in and admitted, “You’re more experienced than I am.”
Aesha continued, “You’ve been a chief stew. And I actually feel like that it’s just ridiculous you having one stripe on your shoulder. So I was actually going to give you two stripes and make you both second stew.”
As Kizzi clapped, the three stews joined together for a group hug. Aesha confessed she was relieved at how Kizzi handled the news. “Kizzi reacting to this well has just been the biggest blessing for me,” she added. “If she didn’t react well, that would have weighed on me so heavy.”
But it turned out Aesha was wrong, and Kizzi admitted her true feelings in her confessional: “I’m not thrilled.”
She added, “I have on a fake smile, but on the inside, I am screaming, crying, sobbing, throwing up.”
Why Aesha Scott debated making changes to the interior team on Below Deck Mediterranean
Throughout the Nov. 17 episode, Aesha heaped praise onto Cathy, calling her “amazing” and “so experienced.”
“As the charter’s going on, I’m starting to realize that Cathy’s just too good to have one stripe on her shoulder,” she confessed, and gave her first hints that she was considering promoting her third stew. “Like she’s taking initiative to go above and beyond.”
But Aesha admitted there was one big thing holding her back from making Cathy a second stew: her current second stew, Kizzi.
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“I don’t want my girls at odds. And I don’t want to demote Kizzi because she’s been great, so I don’t really know what to do about this right now,” Aesha explained.
Still, Aesha praised Cathy during the tip meeting, in front of the entire team and Captain Sandy Yawn, calling the interior team with the addition of Cathy “such a good unit.”
“You are just the most incredible addition. You’re so experienced. You really know what you’re doing. And you’re pretty cool to top it off,” Aesha said. “Thank you for being amazing!”
Cathy Skinner reacts to Kizzi Kitchener’s negative feeling about her
Although Kizzi’s dislike of Cathy was palpable during her confessional interviews, Cathy admitted she was picking up on it in person as well.
“I get a little bit of a vibe from Kizzi that she’s threatened by me,” Cathy shared during the Nov. 17 episode. But, she also explained why she was willing to work on her relationship with Kizzi.
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“Two boats ago, my rotational chief stew partner, she had been there a lot longer than me,” Cathy said in her confessional. “I came on, guns blazing, changing everything. We just butted heads. But looking back, I was wrong in that situation.”
Cathy indicated she was more than happy to work together with Kizzi. “And now I know to be a little bit understanding. I want to do things in a nice way where I’m showing her I’m a team player,” she added.
ICYMI, Kizzi shared big romantic news off the boat as she showed off her stunning engagement ring from pro rugby player Tom Whiteley.