Pregnant Kate Chastain on Raising Her Baby 'Solo': 'I'll Be Able to Do This Exactly How I Want'

Kate Chastain is opening up about becoming a single mom.

On Thursday, the Below Deck alumna, 40, stopped by Page Six's Virtual Reali-Tea podcast and talked about being pregnant with her first baby, after previously telling Watch What Happens Live host Andy Cohen that she will raise her child "solo."

PEOPLE reported news of Chastain's pregnancy exclusively in December. She is due on May 8, 2023.

Asked "what excites" her about the idea of raising a child on her own, the Below Deck Galley Talk star said on the podcast: "I think, from people seeing me on Below Deck and Traitors — I'm fiercely independent. I don't really love people's opinions being different than mine and trying to make me go their way. So I really am so excited that I'll be able to do this exactly how I want to."

She then opened up about "overrated" advice she's received as she prepares to welcome her first child.

"Just enjoy it, blah, blah, blah," said the reality star. "Yeah, I'm enjoying it, okay? It's true. I kind of have been hiding from being as social as I was because, when you're pregnant, it comes with 20 questions and 30 pieces of advice. It's like, listen, we're all just gonna do the best we can here."

She also recalled a "lovely" time when she went out for margaritas with Shahs of Sunset's Mercedes "MJ" Javid with Javid's baby in tow. "She had her friends driving us, the baby was chill, she was low-stress," explained Chastain.

Javid is mom to son Shams Francis Feight, whom she and husband Tommy Feight welcomed in April 2019.

When Chastain announced her pregnancy last month, she exclusively told PEOPLE, "I am absolutely thrilled to become a mother. It's something I've always hoped for so this is truly a dream come true!"

Chastain was a staple on Bravo's Below Deck for six seasons before departing the show in February 2020. She went on to executive produce and host Bravo's Chat Room, is a regular on the network's series Below Deck Galley Talk and is one of the contestants on Peacock's upcoming reality competition series, The Traitors.

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It's those latter two shows that inspired Chastain to open up about her happy news.

"This is such a new and special experience, so I'm really being protective of what I share publicly, but with new episodes of Below Deck Galley Talk about to air on Bravo after Christmas and The Traitors premiering on Peacock on Jan. 12, 2023, there's just no hiding my baby bump any longer!"

Hours later, she made a surprise visit to Watch What Happens Live and shared how she's already been preparing for motherhood.

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"I think being a Chief Stu really trained me for it," Chastain said, referencing her years of working as a yacht stewardess — noting that the first skill she plans to teach her child is "dishes."