Below Deck Med alum Kyle Viljoen blasts Tumi Mhlongo amid feud, teases Bravo return

Below Deck Med alum Kyle Viljoen-Riley isn’t here for the drama with Tumi Mhlongo, but he is here for a Bravo return.

Kyle, who married his husband Zachary Riley in April 2023, has broken his social media silence as Pride month comes to a close.

The stew opened up in a recent interview about representing the LGBTQ+ in yachting, an industry that isn’t very friendly to the community.

This comes as Kyle took a step back from social media to focus on himself after a toxic Season 8 of Below Deck Med that had people coming for him.

Kyle earned backlash from fans and some of his co-stars, such as Tumi and Natalya Scudder.

Now, he has shared his position with some of his former crew members as he moves forward with his life.

Below Deck Med alum Kyle Viljoen blasts Tumi Mhlongo amid feud

Speaking with Pride magazine, Kyle opened up about just how toxic things got during his time on Below Deck Med, especially after his season drama with Natalya and fallout with Tumi.

“I find it very difficult to go back and say ‘do I want to do another season of this?’ It was mentally destructive… immensely. Where do we draw the line with abuse and cyberbullying? Am I the drama? Yes I am, so I own that, but it’s part of reality TV,” he shared.

When we last saw Kyle on Below Deck Med, he clashed with deckhand Max Salvador as well as Natalya on-screen. Kyle has been able to mend fences with both of them.

As Monsters and Critics previously reported, Kyle and Natalya released a joint statement that they had squashed their beef. However, that is not the case between Tumi and Kyle, who didn’t have a falling out until filming ended.

“Unfortunately, Tumi… I do not have time for her. I will not have time for her. It was very unfortunate how our friendship has literally dissipated into nothing. Miss thing wanted some clout on Twitter and ran my name to filth. That type of sneaky behavior I don’t deal well with,” Kyle expressed to the outlet.

Will Kyle Viljoen return to reality TV?

After Season 8 of Below Deck Med wrapped, Kyle revealed he was done with the show. The stew shared with Pride that while he may be done with the hit-yachting show, he isn’t done with Bravo.

In fact, Kyle hinted that he may be back on the network sooner than Below Deck Med fans expected.

“I’m not going to say where. I’m not going to say when, but I’m going to say soon. I can’t wait to see you guys more on Bravo soon,” he told Pride.

Kyle Viljoen-Riley has returned to social media after dealing with online hate during his time on Below Deck Med. Bravo will soon have Kyle back in some capacity, which we know will garner mixed reactions from viewers.

In other Below Deck Med news, Aesha Scott has been bringing a whole new vibe to the show on Season 9, and she recently opened up about how it changed her relationship with Captain Sandy Yawn. Read all about that here.

Below Deck Med airs Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo. Seasons 1-9 are streaming on Peacock.