Below Deck Med star Natalya Scudder revealed she was held in a detention centre in LA – where she was handed a shared loofah – before being deported.
Natalya Scudder has revealed that she was detained in a detention centre in the US for “30 to 40” hours, before being deported.
The Below Deck Mediterranean star opened up about her harrowing experience, explaining that she “got pulled” into a holding room after landing in LA.
The Australia native – who worked as a stewardess on board luxury yachts on the Bravo show – revealed that she was waiting to go through immigration checks when she was confronted by LAX staff about her visa.
In a new interview, she recalled: “I basically got pulled from this main waiting area to the behind the scenes of the airport, which is like a detention holding centre. [There were] dirty blankets on the floor, there’s stains all up the wall.
“There’s a shower but there’s no towels. I said, ‘How long am I going to be here for?’ They go, ‘You’re going to be here from one to five days.’”
It was there that Natalya was informed that she had “taken photos on American soil” in 2024 which “generated money”, meaning that she had “illegally worked on the wrong visa”.
The reality star – who previously appeared on season seven and eight of the Below Deck spin-off, which aired between 2022 and 2023 – shared that officers went through her entire phone history, including deleted items, in an “embarrassing” search.
“You get taken to a detention centre, where I was the only girl. They give you no information, they just tell you you’re detained,” she recalled to TMZ, explaining that she was mocked after asking for a blanket, as officers told her it “wasn’t the Beverly Hills Hotel”.
“The room is disgusting. There’s a shower, there’s no towels, there’s a shared loofah,” she said, claiming that staff instructed her to “dry yourself with your dirty clothes, and put them back on”.
After suffering an “anxiety attack”, Natalya said that she was shaken awake at 3am to have her “official interview”, where she alleged that officers had “already decided” to deport her, meaning she had to get on a 17-hour flight back to Australia after a nightmare trip.
The yachtie-turned-content creator issued a warning for others to ensure they are on the right visa before travelling to the US.
Natalya made her Below Deck debut on the seventh season of the spin-off, under Captain Sandy Yawn. During her time on board, she battled with chief stewardess Natasha and co-star Kyle Viljoen.
Although she returned for a second stint at sea, she left the show halfway through season eight.
“I feel the need to get off now, like I just don’t feel good in my environment,” she said at the time, explaining that she wanted to prioritise her “mental health”.
“I’m very happy for myself that with this season I frickin’ stuck it out for as long as I possibly could,” she told the camera. “I feel like I made some good friends on this boat, but, at one point, I had to say Sayonara… and leave.”
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