Bravo Chef Mila Kolomeitseva made some controversial, anti-gay comments on last week's episode of "Below Deck," which left many fans and fellow crew members angry.
Chef Mila Kolomeitseva, star of Bravo’s hit reality series Below Deck, was recently under fire for controversial comments she made that left the rest of the crew outraged during last week’s episode of the show.
“I don’t want to see a man kissing a man in front of me,” she said in the car on the way to the crew’s first night out. “In your home, you guys can do whatever you want. I don’t want my son to be growing up and seeing two men kissing each other and thinking this is normal because this is not f–king normal!” You can watch the clip below.
According to Decider, she followed up her comment with another, stating that she “loved Putin” and was happy that he didn’t allow gay pride parades in Russia, her native country. She also compared homosexuality to bestiality, asking, “Why is f–king an animal is not normal? But how can a man f–k a man?”
Lead deckhand Travis Michalzik was disgusted and told her to “sit on the opposite end of this f–king table from me,” in response to her comment. Her remark came after Mila questioned Travis’ sexuality because of his nose ring, according to Bravo. Mila continued on with her tirade, taunting Travis and claiming that she must have hit a nerve with him, he responded: “Maybe I’ve been with men. You don’t know that. Maybe my friends are them,” he tells her. He goes on to say, “Homosexual is absolutely natural, so f–k you. Your opinion on gays shows your opinion on humanity which is fucking terrible and I don’t support it.”
Aesha Scott and Jack Stirrup all vehemently disagreed with her as well, calling Mila a “homophobe” while Travis called her an “oxygen thief.” Travis also said that he will “never speak to [Mila] as a human being ever again.”
Captain Sandy Yawn, who is in a committed relationship with her girlfriend Leah Shafer and who recently went public with their relationship, addressed Mila’s comments during a recent interview with TooFab, which took place before she saw the episode. “I heard it through chatter. Like, the crew don’t run to me and say, ‘Did you hear what happened?!’ They’re not like that. They basically keep it [to themselves],” she said of learning about the chef’s remarks. “But someone mentioned it, and I just thought, ‘Wow.'”
The Below Deck Med boss added, “So that’s her opinion. That doesn’t reflect [me]. She can have her opinion. I don’t really care. Doesn’t reflect on me. It reflects on her. So when people take it personal, they should probably look at themselves and not point the finger at the person who said it. Doesn’t bother me! That’s her thing she has to deal with. Not mine.”
Other Season 4 crew members shared their reaction to Mila’s remarks as they watched the moment on TV last Monday. “Any person in the world can kiss any other person in the world,” Aesha tweeted. She continued: “Please know that homophobia is not [anyone’s] position in the show!!!!” while Anastasia Surmava said, “[Mila’s] intolerance is unacceptable.”
See how the other crew members react to Mila’s comment on tonight’s all-new episode of Below Deck Mediterranean, which airs Monday nights at 9 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo.
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