Below Deck Sailing Yacht alum Gabriela Barragan has defended Tumi Mhlongo amid her feud with Natalya Scudder on Below Deck Med.
Season 8 of Below Deck Med has been one for the books, and the season has only just begun.
Aside from the show making history due to Ruan Irving’s fake yachting credentials, the feud between Tumi and Natalya has taken center stage.
The tension has flowed from on-screen to off-screen over the past couple of weeks, including Natalya throwing shade at Tumi.
As Monsters and Critics previously reported, Tumi defended her behavior following her Below Deck Med debut.
Now Gabriela from Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season 3 has made it clear she’s got Tumi’s back.
Below Deck Sailing Yacht alum Gabriela Barragan defends Tumi Mhlongo
Gabriela’s no stranger to tense crew dynamics, having endured just that from Ashley Marti and chef Marcos Spaziani during her season of Below Deck Sailing Yacht.
Taking to Twitter, Gabriel asked for thoughts on the current season of Below Deck Med after the episode where Tumi made her debut.
One reply expressed the wish that Tumi hadn’t met Kyle Viljoen first, alluding to the bad vibes that Kyle passed on about Natalya.
“Tumi is a free thinker & she doesn’t let people ‘get into her head’ like that. I think Natalya was hyper defensive,” responded Gabriela.
Even though one user thought it was too early to tell, the user did feel like Kyle and Tumi were going to ruin the team camaraderie once they arrived.
“I wouldn’t lump Tumi & Kyle in together. It’s Kyle & Natalya that have previous experience together and their own drama,” the Below Deck Sailing Yacht alum wrote.
When a user thought that Tumi seemed tense, Gabriela pointed out that Natalya was “insecure, defensive, and competitive off rip.”
The theme of calling out Natalya was consistent for Gabriela, who made a few more remarks about the third stew.
Gabriela Barragan slams Below Deck Med’s Natalya Scudder
“It looks to me that Natalya really wanted the Chief Stew role & was going to be spicy with anyone that walked onto the boat,” Gabriela tweeted after Tumi’s first episode.
Things didn’t thaw at all between Natalya and Tumi after the most recent episode of Below Deck Med, which ended in yet another fight between the two women.
After that episode, Gabriela took to Twitter to point out a couple of things amid the latest Below Deck feud.
“People wouldn’t shut up about how lovely Tumi was on BDDU & if I remember correctly, No one liked Nat. Within 2 seconds of seeing Tumi on the screen y’all are out for blood & Nat is an Angel now? Ya’ll forgot how nasty she was to Tasha that quick huh,” she expressed.
Gabriela isn’t the only one standing up for Tumi.
Below Deck superfan Jemele Hill also defended Tumi and called out Natalya during her appearance on Watch What Happens Live.
There’s plenty of Below Deck Med Season 8 to play out. However, the preview for next week teased Captain Sandy Yawn admitting she’s ready to throw Natalya Scudder and Tumi Mhlongo both off the yacht.
Keep watching to find out how this feud unfolds and if Captain Sandy really gets rid of one of them.
Below Deck Med airs Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo. Seasons 1-7 are streaming on Peacock.