‘Below Deck’ on Bravo: Kate Chastain And Josiah Carter On The TWO Shocking Departures

Kate Chastain and Josiah Carter are two of the best BFFs the Below Deck franchise has ever seen. They’re on the same page about their work ethic, (not) eating ice cream, and serving blue shots, as we learned when they stopped by the Decider offices ahead of the latest CRAZY episode of the Bravo series.

Here, Kate and Josiah take us behind the scenes of the episode which sends not one, but TWO of the yachties back to shore. Even though Chandler was basically fired, chief stew Kate admits she’s okay with him making it sound like a mutual decision, and along with second stew Josiah, the two explain why they don’t regret Caroline’s loud send-off. Oh yeah, she leaves too. As Season 6 gets more intense by the episode, Kate and Josiah break down exactly why so many things… well, broke down.

DECIDER: At what point did you realize this season might be a shit show?

Kate Chastain: Maybe Caroline’s fourth doctor’s appointment?

How about the deck hand stuff, did you know all that was going on?

KC: No, we’re so busy.

Josiah Carter: We were talking about this the other day. We didn’t notice what Chandler was like. We thought Rhylee was the crazy argumentative one, which she is, but we thought it was all her.

KC: We didn’t know how warranted it actually was, because who would expect anybody to treat anyone like that? It was shocking.

JC: I was like, Ashton seems like he’s alright, Ross seems like he’s okay, why is Rhylee the one that’s crazy about Chandler, so we thought it must be Rhylee.

KC: She comes from boats, and to come into yachting, it’s a different thing. I thought it was a hard adjustment for her and I thought he was losing his patience. If you’ve got somebody who’s sassing you and they’re green, I can understand how that would be annoying. But he gave her plenty of reasons to not be happy.

JC: I think the fishing trip was one of the main…

KC: That was the least of it!

JC: Any normal, sane human being, when they said, “Let’s go fishing,” and you don’t get the only person [who can]? Ashton was like, “I have no idea about fishing.” It was the most obvious thing in the world.

KC: It was so obviously spiteful.

When you watch the show do you feel like you could or should have included Caroline more? 

KC: No, because we did!

JC: We did include her a lot.

KC: There was nothing we could’ve done differently because no matter what we did, she found a reason she was being slighted. We were being too nice so it must be fake, we were being not nice enough, we were excluding her…

JC: When we were including her it wasn’t real.

KC: We weren’t looking at her enough, we weren’t laughing at her jokes authentically, there was no right answer.

When things are going wrong it’s all about distracting the guests. What is your favorite method of distraction?

KC: Alcohol.

JC: It’s the best when things are going wrong.

KC: Or shots.

JC: Yes!

KC: We have to get blue Curaçao on a boat, because when I was a bartender, just make a shot and if you don’t know how to make it, just make it blue, people get excited. “What is this?” “It’s a blue tornado!” Just make it up. Surprise! If it’s blue, they get excited.

JC: That is so true actually.

When Caroline was down—

KC: Which time?

All of the times. Would it take you less time to do the work when it was just the two of you?

KC: It got the point where Caroline was down so much that she didn’t even know what the job was. It was like every day was day one for her because, oh never mind, I have to take a break.

JC: It got to the stage where we were expecting to do everything just us two.

KC: And then she would come up like, “Now what can I do?”

JC: We’re like, oh surprise, she’s here, she can walk.

KC: And I have to give her a job otherwise she’d say I’m not giving her things. I had to find stuff for her to do that felt like I was encouraging her but also that needed to get done. Alphabetize the tea, I don’t know? I already planned that [Josiah] and I would have to do it all so when she would show up and decide to work, I’m like, oh.

JC: And it’s so much easier just to do it yourself. I taught her how to iron a shirt like 10 times. It got to the stage where it was easier if I did it. Instead of walking her through it all, I was like, I’ll just do it and you fold some towels.

KC: How cute was Ashton, he’s so sweet. That scene with him, he was like, “Should these be ironed?” She was trying to start a fight, “Oh, because you’re doing a woman’s job?”

JC: Which I thought was hilarious because I was like, I do this job.

KC: He was helping, why was she starting something awkward?

JC: I do find that funny when she said it’s a woman’s job, because if Ashton would’ve said, “Oh you’re coming out here [on the deck], you’re doing a man’s job,” people would’ve gone fucking mental.

Were you surprised Chandler lasted as long as he did?

KC: Seeing what I see now, I’m surprised he’s lasted this long in life.

JC: I’m surprised he’s lasted this long in yachting as well.

KC: No, because he clearly works for his dad.

JC: Yeah, I’m surprised.

KC: You know what I like? I did not know he wore a sleeping eye mask.

JC: And he cuddles his pillow.

KC: What is that? A sleeping eye mask? I have some but I don’t use them because I’m an adult and I use my eyelids. Your body comes with them. He also knew we were being filmed. In real life, that’s a little weird. If you went to a guy’s house to hook up and after it’s all done he’s like, goodnight [mimes putting on the mask]. He wouldn’t see you leaving.

How has it been watching what the deck crew was up to?

KC: It’s like a different world out there.

JC: Even though we’re on this yacht which is giant, but in the grand scheme of things is small, work wise, we know probably 20% of what goes on on the deck and I had no idea it was like that.

KC: I’m curious to know if they’re watching the interior and seeing things they didn’t know went on. Are they gonna be like, Oh I didn’t realize how hard that was for you. I’m waiting for that message to come through. Maybe I’ll check my spam box.

Did the Chandler meeting go the way you thought it would?

KC: He shows no emotion, he shows no excitement, he shows no nothing, so he responded exactly how Chandler responds to everything.

He was so adamant that this is not goodbye it’s just farewell —

KC: What was that?

Has he kept in touch?

Also because it was just the night before that we had gotten in an argument, “I’m big boy and ice cream”. I thought I was in The Twilight Zone, I was like, are you really saying you’re a big boy right now? When he said it’s not goodbye it’s farewell, I almost Googled it. I was like, is that slang for F you? No, I haven’t heard from him.

Did he ever say he was fired because he made it sound like he chose to leave?

JC: He came down and was like, “So guys, it’s a mutual agreement that I’m leaving.”

KC: Which I think is fair because that’s really embarrassing. If you’re a green deck hand or stew and you come in, okay I didn’t know yachting wasn’t for me. But when you come in and you’re supposed to be the one in charge and you have done so bad that you have to tell everyone you’ve been bossing around for three weeks…usually once you get to bosun you know what you’re doing, so this was an awkward situation. I think we kinda [were] like, at least have your dignity, what’s left of it.

How long into a charter season before you can tell who’s going to make it and who’s not?

KC: I know as soon as I meet them if they’re a yachtie or not.

JC: Although with Chandler I was like, yeah, he can do it.

KC: I thought he’d be great because he was so particular.

JC: He was also so adamant that he was like, “I run the deck like this, I do that.”

KC: He was so falsely confident. You can tell, if somebody comes in and they’re talking a little too much, a little too friendly, you know they’re not a yachtie because in close spaces like that…

JC: The less talking is better.

KC: Silence is respected for everybody’s sanity. The first lunch, the first meal together is how you know. You’re all eating and if somebody needs to fill that awkward silence with talking, we’re like, oh here we go.

JC: People hate awkward silence, I kind of quite like it. You’re eating and no ones talking, you’re like, (relaxed) ahh. And then you get that one person that’s like, “Hey how are you? I’m so excited!” and you’re like, fuck off.

Why is everyone always pigging out on ice cream?

JC: Everyone? I had no ice cream.

KC: The second way you know somebody’s not a yachtie, they eat ice cream. Because when you’re sitting in that crew mess, we’re all splitting tips, we’re all working hard. But if it’s not lunchtime or dinner time, you should not be sitting in there. The first yacht I went on, the chief stew was like, “And here’s the crew mess, and if I ever tell you to go on break and you want to have a Coke, just go have it in your room because it’s not good for morale if a crew member comes down and sees you sitting down.” And I thought, what have I gotten myself into, I have to hide in my room to have a soda? But you do. If you’re sitting, the only excuse is that you’re eating because that’s more fuel to keep working. But if you’re having ice cream, that’s an elective treat. If you look at the show, on charter, the deck crew are always eating in the crew mess and we are never. I don’t even go in the crew mess when there are guests on board, I just pass by it.

Have either of you ever had a medical situation on a boat?

KC: I went to one doctor in my career in yachting. It was in Ibiza, and it was a gynecologist but he didn’t speak a lot of English. He told me to “get out the lips.” I was like, okay! But that’s the one doctor I’ve ever been to because you just don’t go. You don’t have time!

JC: There’s always a language barrier. Actually when I was in Miami, my first ever yacht, I had a similar Caroline situation, I got bit on the foot. I didn’t even go to the doctor, they had like this video doctor, and you basically send them a photo and they say take this. And I was like this for one day [props his foot on the table], for the evening I was working like this, and the next day I was fine, like, great let’s carry on.

KC: This scar right here [points to her finger], I was polishing a crystal wine glass on a very celebrity-heavy boat and it just shattered because it was so fragile. Went down to the bone. We’re on charter, you know what I was doing the next day? Making beds. You just power through. I could see my bone.

Did you think once Chandler was gone that Rhylee would chill out?

KC: No. No, she’s crazy!

JC: Well, she becomes more Smiley Rhylee, doesn’t she.

KC: That comes later for different reasons. I think what Rhylee always wanted, this was ironic that Chandler was the most chauvinistic bosun in history, happened to be with the one female deckhand that craves male attention so much. I think the reason she loves fishing boats in Alaska is because she’s probably, like…

A queen. 

KC: Yes! I bet she’s so popular in Alaska.

JC: She’s the only female up there. And like stepping over guys to get to her boat.

KC: I think once she started getting male attention, that’s what she wanted and that’s what she got.

Do you have any regrets about how you “helped” Caroline off the boat by blasting the music? 

KC: No. I regret that people think it was bullying or unfair. Let’s be clear, she humiliated us after we helped her for weeks.

JC: We were so patient with her.

KC: It’s just so disrespectful. Just to quit is disrespectful, just to lie about us in front of the crew is disrespectful. Then to lay in bed like you own the place while we’re working extra hard because of what you did, it’s not ok.

I do think the song is not the best song. It’s like club music for people on drugs. It’s a hard techno song. I thought it was a creative and efficient way. I didn’t want to scream, I didn’t want to use words.

JC: We also had work to do.

Is this a turning point for the boat or do the same problems pop up?

KC: We had more work, we had less crew but, it was still a relief. Because the two people that were causing the most problems…

JC: Had gone. And all the crew came together to help each other. To be fair to them, Ashton and Ross would be like, “Do you guys need a hand?”

Is there anything you can say about any potential new additions to the crew?

KC: We had that time that was a calm after Caroline and Chandler left, but when new people come on to a boat, yes, there are more hands to help with the work but it’s also a gamble. If they’re not great it can really disrupt the dynamic. It was almost like, well we’re pretty good now, do we need somebody, is it work the risk?

In tonight’s episode you ask an important question: Is there any spit that’s not aggressive? Do you have an answer?

KC: [With spit] you have to force it, it’s physical. A non-aggressive spit, that’s just drool.

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Below Deck airs Tuesday at 9pm ET/PT on Bravo.

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