Kate Chastain's exit from 'Below Deck' has fans saying show won't be the same without her
When you think of Bravo's hit show 'Below Deck', we are sure one of the things that pop up in your head is the famous chief stewardess on the show — Kate Chastain. With her witty commentary tinged in dark humor, this stewardess won a place in our hearts. We watched her journey from the third stew, when she made her debut on Season 2, to rising up the ranks to chief stewardess.
There is no sugar-coating the fact that Season 7 was particularly challenging for the fan-favorite crew member. The male crew members, especially chef Kevin Dobson and the bosun Ashton Pienaar, went out of their way to make Kate's stint on Season 7 rather unpleasant.
So, it came as little surprise when the Florida native took to Instagram to announce her exit from the show. Kate did it in her typical cheeky style, drawing inspiration from the recent "Megxit".
The reality star wrote, "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."
When fans learned of her exit, they were extremely sad to watch their favorite crew member leave.
A fan tweeted, "@Kate_Chastain you are not allowed to leave! No no no no NO!!!!!! It won’t be the same without you! #BelowDeck." Another fan wrote, "Nooooo! Please don’t leave @Kate_Chastain so many laughs from you!!!."
"@BravoTV and @Kate_Chastain I am so upset! I knew it would eventually come, but I truly hate to see Kate leave," echoed another fan.
Some fans empathized with the reality star's decision to leave the show after watching how hard Season 7 was for her. A fan shared, "@Kate_Chastain announcing that she's leaving the show reminds me of when I quit a job because of the harassment I was receiving from two male employees. You have to be a certain level of fed up to leave a good stable job. Best of luck Kate, my new job is my dream job. #BelowDeck."
Kate's announcement left fans fearing that her ally Captain Lee Rosbach too might quit the show soon.
An anxious fan tweeted, "@capthlr I'm sitting trying to watch #belowdecksailing , but when you said, it's true, @Kate_Chastain isn't returning I'm feeling sick. I can't imagine the two of you not heading #BelowDeck together. Captain, please don’t leave us too."
"Please don’t leave @Kate_Chastain you’re the anchor to the show with @capthlr and without the both of you, it will be so hard to watch. You deserve to end the show on a GOOD season, not this. #belowdeck," commented a fan.
'Below Deck' will certainly not be the same without Kate's famous tongue-in-cheek commentary about the guests on the charter, or her over-the-top lavish parties, that no other chief stew can come up with.