Pictures: Michelle Hyslop
Katie Flood’s life is the epitome of glitz and glamour – if her reality TV career and sizzling social media accounts are anything to go by. And although the Below Deck star first found fame working on a TV show about life on luxury yachts, she’s decided that now’s the time for her to take a break from boats.
“I’ve been in the industry for 10 years and it got to the point where I just couldn’t do it any more,” the 32-year-old shares. “Yachting consumes your life. I was working 18-hour days. I didn’t have the energy to do anything healthy, like work out or meditate.
“There wasn’t even time to speak to my family. I chose violence and completely changed my whole life!”
After our fabulous Woman’s Day shoot in her hometown of Auckland, Katie decided to leave the boat she was working on and settle in Dubai.
“I have a much more balanced life now,” she smiles. “I can pursue other things and I know I will have time to go to a yoga class. Now, I get to do things that fill my cup as opposed to just completely draining me – leaving me ruined, mentally, spiritually and physically!”
Katie hasn’t left Below Deck behind completely, though. She shares her home in Dubai with fellow alum Natalya Scudder. “We’d met each other at various Bravo events and chatted over the years,” Katie explains. “Then we found out we both wanted to move here, so we decided to get a place together. Neither of us know a lot of people in Dubai, so it’s so nice to have that support when we’re going through such big changes in our lives.”
Aotearoa will always be home for Katie, but right now she loves the buzz of the United Arab Emirates’ biggest city. “Everyone here is hustling and trying to make something of themselves,” she says.
“As soon as I got to Dubai, all of these doors just started opening up. People invited me to events and wanted to work with me. It all just happened really organically.”
Of course, she has connected with Real Housewives Of Dubai stars Sara Al Madani and Chanel Ayan. Katie laughs, “I started watching the show once I moved here because I was like, ‘These are my peeps now!’ I absolutely love Sara and Chanel is hilarious!”
The influencer has also recently signed a contract for a dream job she’s not allowed to talk about just yet.
“I really believed that I could do it and I journalled about it every day,” she marvels. “It really is the power of manifesting. It’s a big project and there’s a lot of risk. It could all turn to s**t, but hopefully not!
“There’s another thing that I’m working on and it is to do with yachting, so even though I say I’m done working on boats, I still love the industry, and there’s so much I can do with my skills and knowledge.”
The strain of Katie’s hectic boating career, plus her filming schedules and various influencer gigs, has taken its toll on all her previous relationships and she is currently single.
“It’s so hard to maintain relationships in the yachting industry,” she admits. “I’ve sacrificed a decade for that. I’ve been on a few dates in Dubai and I’ve had so much fun. However, I’m not really invested in trying to find a man at the moment. Right now, I feel like it’s about me.”
For a while there, fans were intrigued when Katie got together with Vanderpump Rules star Tom Schwartz, whom she met last year while both were on the reality show Winter House.
“I still get asked about Tom all the time,” she sighs. “I have the same answer every single time: We are not together. Please stop DMing me!
“We have a really good friendship. I adore him. We chat every now and then, and that’s really all it is. We managed to have a really surface-level, fun fling in the house. And I feel really happy it stayed that way.”
The star was back in Aotearoa in March to visit friends and family, but she doesn’t see herself returning to our shores long-term any time soon.
“I love New Zealand,” she says. “I feel so blessed to come from such an amazing country and being away from home is something I struggle with. I’ve had a lot of guilt about it because it’s unlikely I’ll live there again in the near future. It will always have a special place in my heart, but I just want to conquer the world!”
Now that she has retired from yachting, Katie’s hopeful she’ll also have some more consistency in her life.
“I don’t plan my life around relationships, men or anything like that,” she’s quick to add.
“I just want somewhere to call home and have a bit more normality. And then there’s everything that comes with that normality.”
But not too normal. Katie says she doesn’t want to completely give up the glamour of television.
“I loved my time on Below Deck and I hope to do another season,” she says. “I’d also like to do other projects rather than just reality TV. I’d love to host a show or do something a bit different. All I can say is, watch this space!”
Watch Katie on Winter House today on Apple TV.
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