Chef Mila's Most Controversial Below Deck Moments
Chef Mila Kolomeitseva from "Below Deck Mediterranean" is undoubtedly one of the most polarizing stars in the history of the franchise. From her first moment to her final farewell, she stunned viewers and her co-stars alike with her words and actions. In fact, it was difficult at times for the crew to process the seemingly bizarre behavior exhibited by the chef during her time on the hit reality show.
Nothing about Mila's tenure went over well. At the time, Captain Sandy Yawn didn't understand the gravity of who she was dealing with, but she understood more after the season began airing. It wasn't difficult to discern why Mila earned a reality TV villain label. Right away, something about the combination of seemingly not having the qualifications for her job and a series of insensitive remarks made it clear.
It's one thing being a poorly skilled chef on "Below Deck." That's something that happens quite often, and even though Captain Sandy tends to have the most issues with her chefs, it exists in the other franchises too. However, Mila didn't meet any of the expectations set for her by Captain Sandy or the charter guests. Her culinary skills were under fire the entire time, but Mila's character was also the focus of several discussions.
Mila licked raw beef and microwaved it for guests
There are certain things that should be common sense. As an alleged classically trained chef, Mila Kolomeitseva should know the proper rules and etiquette of the kitchen. Licking steak meant for the guests and subsequently re-heating the meat in a microwave would usually be one of those things that's easy to know not to do. In normal circumstances, there's not a cook or a chef out there who would find that to be acceptable. However, Mila was seemingly oblivious to this, and she proceeded like it was normal practice.
Co-star Jack Stirrup couldn't hold back his awe and shock at Mila's actions, saying, "What is she licking a raw steak for? ... It was like a f**king little cat." It was the first dinner of the Season 4 premiere, and Mila was full of surprises. The guests were entirely unaware of Mila's stomach-churning actions, and considering the amount of money they paid to be there, they deserved some sort of compensation.
To make things even worse, prior to licking the steak, Mila had fallen ill with food poisoning. Not only was the practice already gross and unsanitary, but she was also risking giving the charter guests whatever ailment she was suffering from. If her time on the show ended there, it would've been enough for her to be the worst chef in "Below Deck" history but unfortunately, her reign of chaos continued.
Mila baked a birthday cake that was inedible
Imagine going on the trip of a lifetime to celebrate a birthday. The only thing that could make it better is a delicious, one-of-a-kind cake hand-crafted by a five-star chef. Unfortunately for whoever went on the charter featuring Chef Mila Kolomeitseva, she was completely incompetent on every level and therefore unable to provide that experience. Instead, she delivered one of the worst attempts at creating a cake in the history of reality television.
This was yet another clear example of how there's almost no way her alleged credentials as a chef were accurate. The cake Mila created was so strongly tasting of baking powder that nobody was willing to serve it to the guests. As Hannah Ferrier remarked to Us Weekly on the incident: "I feel like with Mila's food, it can't really get a lot worse. There's only one way to go."
Mila somehow was able to top the cake when she made a mind-boggling attempt at nachos. The cake should've served as the swan song for Mila, but for some reason, she was allowed to continue being the chef after this shocking incident. They could've saved themselves so many headaches if they cut her loose after realizing she didn't possess the talent required for the role. However, controversy is money on reality TV so Mila lived to cook another day.
Mila tried serving sub-par nachos to guests
The nachos. The infamous nachos that Chef Mila Kolomeitseva attempted to serve to guests on "Below Deck Med" will go down in history as one of the worst dishes of all time on the show. The nachos were so disgusting that chief stew at the time Hannah Ferrier refused to serve them to guests. Regarding the decision not to put the dish in front of charter guests, she said, "In nine years of yachting, I've never refused to take a dish." Captain Sandy Yawn echoed that sentiment, arguing, "In my career, I promise you, this has never happened. Chefs don't do that. At all."
The nachos were simply tortilla chips with nothing even remotely special about them. The food Mila was attempting to serve throughout her time isn't even something people would find on their local dive bar menu. Even the cheese was prepackaged, so she was quite simply doing absolutely nothing. This was a huge red flag that she was in over her head, but it still wasn't the worst of her time on the show.
While the nachos, cake, and licked steak are horrendous in their own right, it was Mila's comments about the LGBTQIA+ community that sealed her fate with viewers and co-stars. There was no going back from the terrible comments she made, and it's likely a mitigating factor in the season not having a reunion. But before that, we learned about her bizarre provisions requests, which had everybody scratching their heads.
Producers claim Mila ordered way too many provisions
When a charter on "Below Deck Med" first begins, the people in charge of certain departments are responsible for making sure the correct provisions are added. These people include the bosun, chief stew, and naturally, the head chef. Even though it didn't air, producers have confirmed that Chef Mila Kolomeitseva was a red flag from the first moment they saw her in action, and it was her strange ordering for her provisions that had them questioning everything.
According to producers, Mila over-ordered on provisions to the point that it was concerning. Josh Brown, Bravo's Vice President of Current Production, described it as a "bit of a tip-off to some of her fellow crew members that maybe she didn't have it all together" during the after-show. Even the showrunner was baffled about Mila's approach, sharing, "It didn't make the show because of showtime, but she'd ordered like 32 cans of whipped cream, but it was interesting."
At least it wasn't only the viewers and the yachties alarmed by Chef Mila's unusual behavior. Clearly, the crew behind the scenes was equally puzzled about the decisions made by Mila, who was apparently winging every step of her time on the show. There's a layer of authenticity missing from Mila, and her comments to her co-stars regarding the LGBTQIA+ community were the icing on the cake. Once she uttered those words, it was easy to lose interest in Mila's journey.
Mila made several homophobic remarks to the cast
The homophobic comments made by Chef Mila Kolomeitseva were inarguably the most offensive part of her time on "Below Deck Med." It's a shame Captain Sandy Yawn wasn't aware of the comments in their full context while Mila was still on the ship, but she's gone on record as saying she would have simply spoken to Mila privately about it. As Captain Sandy clarified on "Watch What Happens Live" (via Bravo), "Her opinion of me doesn't matter because I would have to care about that person for me to care."
During an off-the-boat excursion outside of working hours, Mila stated, "I don't want to see a man kissing a man in front of me. In your home, you guys can do whatever you want." The Serbian-born chef also told her co-stars, "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***ing normal." These comments left everybody incensed, and they didn't want anything to do with her.
Viewers shared those feelings and even celebrity watcher Chrissy Teigen dragged Mila for her stance. She tweeted, "Wowwwww I was hesitant to talk s**t about the chef's cooking on Below Deck because I didn't wanna be a jerkhole but then it got to the end, and turns out she is also a terrible person." Ultimately though, it was Mila's lack of prowess in the kitchen that got her fired.