There were plenty of shocking twists and viral scenes on season 10 of Below Deck Mediterranean, but one of my favorite moments came courtesy of French deckhand Max Salvador and British stewardess Cathy Skinner. While openly crushing on her, Salvador commented that he liked Skinner best when she looked “natural”—without makeup.
As only a true girl’s girl could, she shot back, “Natural? Except for my boobs, my nose and my hair,” prompting Salvador to deliver his now-iconic line: “Oh, so you are made in China?”
As a beauty editor, I found Skinner’s candidness incredibly refreshing, so when she was in New York to appear on Watch What Happens Live, I knew I had to grab her for a chat.
I was so happy to see how candid you were about your aesthetic treatments. Have you always been comfortable being open about it, and do you think it’s important to be transparent?
“I definitely have always been comfortable talking about it. I don’t really care if people judge me as long as I’m being myself. I think it’s very important to be transparent. The social pressure that everyone feels, male and female, is so intense from just looking on Instagram and being like ‘I want to look like her’ or ‘oh, she’s so beautiful.’ It’s so important to realize that, actually, people pay for things to improve themselves, or they use a filter, to stop this cycle of wanting to look like someone else and feeling less than because you don’t.
And these things are expensive, like there is no doubt that money pays for beauty. I’m a privileged person to be able to afford to get what I think is aesthetically better. I believe in what makes you comfortable, and what makes me feel comfortable is just a bit of a subtle change, but what makes someone else comfortable can be different. They can have horns on their head, whatever, if that makes you feel good, do it. If you’re not affecting my life, I don’t care what you look like. If you’re nice to me, I’m nice to you.”
What treatment has had the biggest positive impact on your confidence?
“Honestly, I don’t know if this is the same, but getting my teeth done. I had braces. I don’t have any composite bonding, so they are just my natural teeth, but having them straightened, which I had to pay for. I know it’s very expensive in America, but that has been just the biggest confidence booster for me, just because that’s the first thing people look at when you’re speaking to someone, and it opens so many more doors for me. I was never a shy kid, I think everyone knows that, but I would cover my mouth when I spoke, and I would never smile in photos, so it opened up a whole new world where people spoke to me differently and I was speaking to people differently. That was definitely a huge boost.”
What sunscreen are you using on deck?
“I honestly just use everything in the cupboard. Every time you go to a new yacht, they have a cupboard filled with sunscreens, so it’s very accessible. I’m using a La Roche-Posay one right now, and that’s pretty common on boats. It’s a nice brand, and it’s easy to get over in Europe as well.”
What are some beauty must-haves while on charter?
“My Dermalogica Microexfoliant ($20)—love that—the La Roche-Posay sunscreen and my Dior Lip Glow Oil ($42).”
Who are the top three crewmates from this season you still talk to?
“Joe Bradley, he’s like one of my best friends, Kizzie [Kitchener], I speak to her like every week and V [Victoria SanJuan].”
You were clearly a fan-favorite this season. What has it been like getting all this new attention?
“It’s literally been just amazing. I’ve always been such a social media person. I was that person taking a photo of my meal before you could touch it, and it used to annoy everyone, but look where it’s got me. The attention I’m getting is good, so I cannot complain. I read all the messages, I go through Reddit… and I didn’t even know what Reddit was before this. It has just been so sweet.
On the other hand, some other cast members obviously don’t have that great attention, and I would just feel awful, so I’m very lucky and blessed to have a nice fanbase. You’re never going to please everyone, right? There are people who could be like, ‘You had something sad happen, why wouldn’t you go home?’ And I actually thought I’d get tons of messages like, ‘What the hell, you didn’t go home?’ But it’s been nothing but kindness, especially from people who’ve reached out, thanked me for sharing my story and who’ve been through similar things. It’s been great.”
How are you doing following the loss of your stepfather in the middle of the season?
“I’m good. I thought I was going to be worse. I was definitely dreading it, but it was all in my head. Everything I thought was going to happen hasn’t happened—people haven’t been messaging me things like, ‘You’re a bad daughter; you didn’t go home,’ or cursing me to the world. Listen, it might still come.”
Have you made any New Year’s resolutions?
“I don’t think I’ve ever set one because I never put pressure on myself. I’m such a go-with-the-flow person. I say ‘yes’ to new opportunities, and I love the fact that saying ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to something can steer your life in a completely different direction.
If I put pressure on myself—like, ‘Hey, I’m going to lose 20 pounds this year’ or ‘I’m going to go to the gym every day’—and then I don’t, it really plays on your mind and makes you feel like you’ve let yourself down. Obviously, you can say things like, ‘I want to be a kinder person’ or ‘I want to expand my social group,’ but nothing unrealistic that’s going to make me feel stressed.
I did say I’d read a book. My first book. I’ve never read a book—ever.”
