Tumi Mhlongo, star of Below Deck Mediterranean, has alleged that Kyle Viljoen was after her job during their heated season eight tenure.
Following a successful debut on Below Deck Down Under, the head stewardess was promoted to the Med spin-off, which sailed last month.
She didn’t have it easy, however, and allowed her co-star get into her brain about fellow stew Natalya Scudder before the series even started, causing to awkward circumstances when they finally met.
In the most recent episode, the couple appeared to temporarily put their differences aside with some success after a tough chat with Captain Sandy Yawn.
Tumi opened up about her efforts on board and her connection with the rest of the interior crew on Monday’s Watch What Happens Live.
She didn’t hold back when asked if she regretted telling Kyle about Natalya since he “ultimately seemed to pit the two against each other.”
‘100%! I’ll own that,’ the yachtie replied, before host Andy Cohen pressed on whether he ‘misrepresented’ the situation to her.
‘Kyle just wanted my job,’ she continued, to laughs from the audience. ‘There’s nothing Kyle wanted more than to be chief stew, so he was going to do anything in his power to make it uncomfortable.
‘That’s the truth and I’m sure he’ll say that himself – maybe, one day…’
Discussing her working relationship with Natalya, Tumi added: ‘If we got along, we would kill the [table] scapes. We would kill it.
‘We’d be a great team.’
Tumi and Kyle were forced to skip the inaugural charter season owing to immigration concerns, forcing their castmate to step up into a chief stew post before the series ever began.
During their unexpected time off, Kyle disclosed to his supervisor that he discussed his difficulties with his castmate the previous year, after they spent the most of season seven squabbling.
‘I love [some] good gossip. But I am realizing that my involvement has made the situation worse. I shared with Tumi how my time went with Natalya,’ he explained.
‘I am really good at getting information. My biggest problem? I am not good at keeping the information. It’s not good. Trust me, I know.’
As tensions rose, Captain Sandy warned that if the situation did not improve, she would not hesitate to make changes within the crew.
‘I’m going to let you handle it. And if you need me, you will call me. But I am going to ask you,’ she told Tumi. ‘I know it is hard for someone to adjust. I agree.
‘If your approach is one of kindness, you will win, instead of one of authority.
‘To lead, you are not always going to be popular. How many people like their boss? There’s growing pains of figuring out how to work together. They just have to get through this initial uncomfortability. If it becomes a bigger issue, then I will step in.’
Below Deck Mediterranean airs on Mondays on Bravo and is available to stream on the same day.
