‘Below Deck Med’ Chief Stew Katie Flood on The DM She Got From Hannah Ferrier

New Zealand native Katie Flood is in for the adventure of a lifetime and she steps into the chief stew role for Below Deck Mediterranean Season 6, and she already seems to be bracing herself. “It’s definitely been a little bit wild so far, but it’s all been positive,” she said over Zoom from Alaska last week, the day that Episode 1 premiered on Peacock, but will air on Bravo tonight at 9 pm ET/PT.

Here, Katie opens up about comparisons to former chief stew Hannah Ferrier (and the lovely DMs they’ve already exchanged) and her feelings about “tacky” table decor, but when it comes to any potential boatmances for her, all Katie would say is, “I don’t kiss and tell.”

DECIDER: You drop a fun fact in the first episode, that you previously dated Jack Stirrup from Season 4. When you were getting ready to do the show, did he have any advice for you? What was his reaction to you joining?

KATIE FLOOD: I think he was the first person I actually told. When it got to the point where I was gonna do the show, I felt like I just wanted to chat to him. That’s when I was making the final decision if I wanted to do this, and Jack always has really positive things to say about everything. He was just like, people will love you, do it. He had a really good experience so it’s nice to speak to someone that knows you really well. He knows me at my best and my worst and to have his input really did help.

Tell me a little bit about your relationship with Sandy. How did you get along?

Me and Sandy got along really well. I had a really positive experience working with her and she really trusted me. She didn’t come across as a micromanager as some captains do and we had a really good relationship, so I really enjoyed it. She was there when I needed her and then every other time, she sort of just let me do my own thing.

Did you find that your management styles really meshed well together?

I think so. I’m a very empathetic person and I think Captain Sandy can be as well, so I think we definitely had that in common. She pushed me when I needed to be pushed and then she listened when I just needed her to listen. So it was a good match.

Good. How about your stews? Tell me a little bit about them.

You will come to a boat and your stews are already chosen for you, so it’s a hard thing to get over, because normally I’m involved in the hiring process. I like to see people’s CVs, talk to them. So, to just be presented, this is what you’re going to get…it started off really good.

Started off good, don’t they all. 

You know, any boat’s the same. Even if I had the option to interview and choose the girls themselves, a lot of times as well, and I know a lot of captains, chief officers, other chief stews that say the same thing: someone can be amazing on paper, you can have a phone call with them, and you’re like, yes, this person’s great. And then somebody shows up and it doesn’t quite work out or the slipper doesn’t fit. So you never know what you’re getting.

We see that your third stew Courtney teaches Captain Sandy how to twerk. Did you learn this as well?

You know what, I always give things a go. I tried. I might regret it now, but I tried it at the time [laughs].

We’ll find out if you have a good twerk ethic, as they say. You worked on previous boats with seven stews and now you’re going to two, what was that adjustment like?

Some boats are bigger and you need the bigger crews and some boats are smaller and you don’t need the bigger crew. You always want more than what you have, because even with seven girls, I could have said, Yeah, I needed another stew. The grass is always greener. It’s definitely a change, it makes my job a lot more hands-on, whereas when you do have a bigger team, the chief stew is slightly back, it’s more of the organizing side of things. So when there’s a smaller team, it means I have to be a lot more hands-on and I’m always willing to do it, and it’s fun to get your hands dirty again.

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We’ve previously seen that Captain Sandy loves table decor and she wants it to be fancy and she wants it to be nice. Where do you stand on that? Is it one of your strong points? 

I really like beautiful, I love pretty, I love classic. The boats I’ve worked on have been very high-end so the tacky side of table decor is not my forte, I fucking hate it, I can’t stand it. The guests are all different, some of them want tacky shit, so I’ll give you tacky shit. My own personal style is not quite like that, and I do think I do nice table decor. I think it’s always fitting it to the client, you have to read a room. I’ve been on a boat where the owner wants complete theme nights every other night. And then other charter guests are like, we hate that, don’t do that. But overall as a standard, yeah, you’ve got to make it pretty, you’ve got to make it look nice.

Do you have any special tips or tricks that are your go-to? Like, when in doubt, put a seashell out?

No, normally in traditional table setting, the way butlers do it, technically you’re meant to start with the table decor first because it’s the first thing going in the middle. So you’re not reaching over the plates, you’re not reaching over things to make this table pretty. For me visually, I have to set the table with the placemats and napkins, and napkin rings. And then that’s when I start getting creative and start putting things together and making sure everything goes. I always start with choosing a color scheme or choose a theme and start with napkins, placemats, napkin rings and then go from there. That’s just how I work, I feel I’m more creative that way, everything sort of goes together more.

I want to ask you about some of the other crew members as well. How was your relationship with the chef, did you and Mat get along well?

Yeah, Mat is so funny. At first I struggled and I think most of us did and it’s like any crew member really. Never judge a book by its cover basically, and that is Mat. I’m excited to see that because it definitely was, I wouldn’t say rocky, but it was concerning for me in the start.

How is his food?

The food was good. He’s worked for very high-end people and he’s good at what he does.

How about Malia, did you get along well?

Yes, I had a really good relationship with Malia. There’s definitely parts of the season I am so glad she was there. She just has a different outlook on things and it was good to have her when things are sort of going on. There were struggles on my end, and having her and having her input and outlook…because I’m a chief stewardess, but she wants to be captain so she really thinks in such a captain state of mind. I couldn’t have done the season without her.

We do see you get a little bit emotional at certain points in the trailer. Is there anything you can tease about what brings you to tears? 

I suffer from really bad anxiety. I’m normally really cool, calm and collective. That’s always my demeanor, but I’m a fucking human. And in this industry, I don’t take breaks, I’m on my feet for 18 hours a day, I go to bed, and then I get up and do the same thing. When you’re doing that every single day, for months on end, then you’re not eating properly because you don’t get to take breaks. And then on the times we do get off, we go out and get absolutely shitfaced. It’s a recipe for disaster and my body is so sensitive to things like that. I should know better by now, but whatever, I’m not perfect. And when things are really starting to crumble around me or things at work or my personal life, it’s too much for me and I’m really empathetic. So if I’m having to do something that I know is gonna affect somebody else, it really messes with my mind and I really struggle with that. Hurting someone, I hate it. I don’t ever want to hurt someone or make someone feel bad. Unfortunately, in this job, when you are a leader, people aren’t always going to agree with you. And sometimes, when you add all those other elements, it becomes too much sometimes.

Well, it’s okay to have anxiety as long as you make sure you declare your medication when you get on the boat. 

I know that, I think everybody knows that now [laughs].

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With this season, COVID is still a thing. What we saw on the last season of Sailing Yacht was a lot of partying on the boat. Were you also doing a lot of partying on the boat during this time?

Yeah, it’s a pandemic, you got to make your own fun now. People are getting creative at home. So yeah we did what we could with the cards we were offered.

The stairs seem rough. What was that like for you, having to go up and down those a lot?

They are so narrow and gnarly. My legs are so sore, like after the first couple of days, running up and down stairs. I was living in Mexico, so I hadn’t been on a boat for a couple of months, and then I went straight into this hectic charter season. So my legs were killing me and yeah, they’re definitely not the safest if you’ve had a few drinks.

Let’s talk a little bit about the first episode, where a lot of shit went down for you right when you got to the boat. Tell me a little bit about this charter group, Chef Mat leaving; what were those first couple days on the boat like for you?

It’s a lot to take in. You’re completely thrown in the deep end. You join the boat, the next day you’re on charter and you don’t know any of these people. It’s a lot for anyone, so add a camera crew to the mix and it’s even more so. It was already so much and then Mat having to leave…I was scared, I was anxious, I was upset, I was angry, I was like, What the fuck is this? What the fuck are we gonna do? Because in a normal yachting world, someone can leave and the next day you have a new chef, or you have a new stew or deckhand or whoever. But this is COVID times, we have to think about the safety of the crew, the safety of the guests, and everyone involved. So even if we did get a new chef, they have to quarantine for a week or two weeks, or whatever it is depending where you are in the world, so there was definitely a lot of pressure and stress. And it’s like, shit, we’re still trying to learn this boat. I don’t know where half the shit is at this point. So I [knew], you’ve just got to smile and act like everything’s okay and hopefully, that’s what will happen.

Is there anything that you want people to know about you going into this season?

Not really. I think I’m a really easy-going person. I do get pissed off, I do get upset, I still have a soul, I have emotions. I just hope that people really see me for who I am, and I’m sure people are going to have things to say about whatever it is I do, and I’m not going to please everybody. And I really don’t give a fuck about that, but I think that’s true to myself. So in the end that’s all that matters.

Hannah was the chief stew for so many seasons on this show. Have you met her? Have you guys talked at all?

I’ve never met Hannah, and obviously I knew who she was and she had no idea who I was until a month or so ago whenever the [trailer] was released. But she was really kind, she reached out, she sent me a DM and she just said congratulations and that she’s here if I need to talk to her about anything, just dealing with the social media side of things. So it was really, really nice of her to do that, nobody has to do that, especially because I know we’re going to get compared a lot. For good and for bad, I’m sure. So it was nice to have that. And, it’s nice to know, for me, that when things do sort of get like a little bit too much, and I’m sure there will be times, just that I can send her a DM and just get some advice on how she dealt with things and stuff like that.

It seems that past Med crew members are a very welcoming group, I’m not sure if you’ve already experienced that.

I have! I’ve had a lot of past Below Deck Med cast reach out to me and just pretty much said the same thing. Wishing me the best, congratulations, and that if I ever need to chat to them about this wild ride, that they’re all here, so it’s really nice to have that support system. And I think that’s the beauty of social media, sometimes it’s like, you don’t even know somebody and then they still are kind enough to have your best interests at heart or because they’ve been through it they have more of an understanding than somebody like me who’s about to go through it.

Where are you now? 

I am in Alaska. Yeah, it’s honestly this place is fucking unreal. I thought I had seen it all but I think this is the most beautiful place I have ever been on a boat. We’re on the dock right now and these two humpback whales are just cruising around in the harbor. We saw orca whales the other day, we’re seeing bears. Like there’s so much insane wildlife here and like the glaciers, we tied the boat to the back of this iceberg the other day. My mind is just blown right now.

Anything else that you’re excited for people to see this season?

I think I’m just excited to go on this journey with everyone and I do honestly believe it’s gonna be a slightly different season to what people are used to with Below Deck Med. And, I think it’s exactly what was needed, on a global level. The world, we’ve gone through so much, so I think this is a different outlook on things and it was an enjoyable time and I think that will come across to people.

Are you seeing the yachting industry pick back up again?

Yeah, during COVID everyone was like, how are you traveling so much? It’s just because of this industry. I know a lot of my friends that work on private boats, the owners would live aboard, especially during lockdown. Which is good in a way because it means people aren’t losing their job. It got 50/50 with the industry; a lot of boats were getting rid of crew and going down to skeleton crew, but then a lot of boats are still just as busy because people didn’t want to travel, they want to go be on a yacht that’s secluded in some beautiful place. So the yachting industry, I don’t think got affected as much, and so that was a positive for us. And it’s just a new way to travel now.

Below Deck Mediterranean airs Monday at 9 pm ET/PT on Bravo and episodes can be viewed one week early on Peacock. 

Stream Below Deck Mediterranean on Peacock and Bravo Now