As fans continue to wonder about Kate Chastain’s early exit from Bravo’s Chat Room — a show she also produced — the Below Deck alum opened up exclusively to Us Weekly about her experience with cohosts Hannah Berner, Porsha Williams and Gizelle Bryant.
“I didn’t really feel like explaining my reason for leaving Bravo’s Chat Room immediately after I left because I just felt like if I told the truth about why I left, people would assume I was just giving an excuse, but truth does always eventually come out,” the 38-year-old reality TV personality told Us. “Sometimes it happens quicker than you think it’s going to. And after Summer House went through its season, I think Hannah’s character was revealed more. And then as of just as recently as last week, I think Porsha’s character has been revealed a bit more. … It was a miserable enough experience that I don’t even like thinking about it, but when people ask, I’m happy to be polite and obliged to answer.”
Chastain noted that she “values” her employment and time on Bravo, telling Us, “They’ve been very wonderful and generous to me, and they handled the situation the way that was best for me, and I’m really thankful for that.” She added, however, that Below Deck is “a very different type of show” compared to Summer House, which Berner starred on for three seasons, and the Real Housewives franchise. (Williams, 39, stars on Real Housewives of Atlanta, while Bryant, 50, is a Real Housewives of Potomac OG.)
“I love watching those shows. I’m a fan, but it’s interesting to see when you’re not doing a job. It’s interesting to see how those kinds of shows are made by their cast members. It’s a very different process,” she told Us. “It’s not my favorite. I don’t think it’s necessary, but I guess for some people it is.”
Speaking about Berner specifically, Chastain told Us, “She chose for us not to be friends early into the Chat Room filming experience.”
When asked whether that made it difficult to work together, she agreed and added, “Especially if they have a seasoned veteran, like, leading the way for them and coaching them through it and, you know, working with them actively.”
Bravo has yet to announce official plans for more episodes of Chat Room, which wrapped its 42-episode season 1 earlier this month.
“[Hannah’s] engaged, so she’s got that big wedding to plan and I’m pretty sure she’s excited about her stand-up routine,” Chastin quipped when asked whether she thinks Berner will be back for more episodes. “So I’m excited for her to hit the road, telling those jokes. All those funny jokes.”
Berner, for her part, told Us in March that she got along with Chastain, who has appeared on her “Berning In Hell” podcast more than once, before she announced her exit.
“Kate is amazing. I look up to her in a lot of her career moves and she was the one who actually came up with whole concept for Chat Room,” the comedian said at the time. “She was the one who recommended me to be on it because we had great chemistry and she kind of created the show. … I’m just excited to see her future and grateful that she considered me to be on Chat Room.”
More recently, a rep for Berner told Us that she “stands by her previous statement that she and Kate got along great, and she wishes Kate well.”
When asked if she’s “still friends” with Williams or Bryant, Chastain replied, “I liked Gizelle a lot. I really do. … Porsha is extremely talented, and it was really amazing to work with her because, like I said, the Housewives vibe of being on camera is very different than what I’m used to where we just forget the cameras are there and we’re the same people, cameras off or cameras on. So it was really impressive to see how talented Porsha is at when those cameras start rolling just she can switch it right on.”
With reporting by Diana Cooper
