Gary King has starred on Below Deck Sailing Yacht since Season 2. With three seasons underneath his belt, his patterns are clear. Simply put, Gary loves the attention of women. In fact, his storyline every season has included love triangles and drunken one-night encounters.
However, the sexual assault situations on Below Deck Down Under could see ramifications trickling down towards other series. To explain, in the aftermath of these Season 2 assaults, those who stepped in to support the innocent were applauded. Within a few hours, Aesha Scott, Captain Jason Chambers, and the production team all moved as one, protecting the crew. As for the two yachties who failed to respect the word “no,” they lost their positions onboard.
This was sadly satisfying as a viewer, as oftentimes, problems of this nature are swept underneath the rug. As fans, we’ve become so desensitized to reality television personalities with bad behaviors. It was therefore almost shocking to see accountability taking place. For the Northern Sun team to swiftly cancel problematic stars, well, that was a huge step in the right direction.
Gary should therefore be concerned, as new sexual misconduct allegations have just arisen that cannot be ignored. These claims have put Below Deck Sailing Yacht’s future in jeopardy.
Before you say that Gary’s behaviors were always consensual, please read the article in its entirety.
A Review Of Gary’s Patterns
Throughout his Below Deck Sailing Yacht tenure, Gary has been problematic with women. He is often seen tightly embracing his female crew members, not letting them go until he’s able to kiss their faces. If this fails, he can then be seen gaslighting women’s “no’s,” while demanding forgiveness from his abusive patterns. “Oh you love me, you know you do,” and “Come on, don’t be mad,” are two of Gary’s favorite lines, each said while physically overpowering the women in question.
For the sake of fairness, Gary’s full-on hook-ups (not to include the kissing and hugging) have thus-far been consensual. To be even fairer, Gary was actually taken advantage of by Ashley Marti in Season 3. Ashley climbed into Gary’s bed for an intimate evening while he was blacked out. Following viewers backlash towards the former stewardess, however, Gary denied that Ashley did anything wrong.
That said, Gary still pushes boundaries. He’s gone after almost every woman onboard, forcing kisses, hugs, and forgiveness from the nervously laughing female crew members.
Gary’s Patterns Were Repeated On Project Runway
Various members of the Below Deck franchise recently appeared on Bravo’s Project Runway. During Episode 9, everyone went to a bar. Here, Gary began to flirt with a married designer named Anna Zhou. As a new mother, Anna enjoyed this night out, quickly becoming drunk.
Gary zeroed in on the drunken Anna. He then walked the vulnerable designer outside to talk, away from the cameras. From a distance, Gary was seen leaning in, trying to hook up with the unable to consent woman. Watching these toxic patterns exist outside of the Below Deck world further put a needed spotlight on Gary’s patterns.
The Shocking New Allegations
Speaking to Rolling Stone, production crew member Samantha Suarez (from hair and makeup) alleged that Gary forced himself on her during the production of Season 4. While at a hotel shooting interviews, Samantha was asked to walk an inebriated Gary back to his room. Once there, Gary asked her not to leave, suggesting that she get into his bed.
Samantha made light of this, as most women placed in awkward situations with men do, and left. However, she later returned, carrying waters and snacks.
To quote the interview, Samantha stated that Gary “came up behind her, grabbed her, pressed her against his body, and refused to let go of her, even though she says she tried to kick and elbow him to get him off. She says she managed to get out of his grasp and went to open the door to leave. Then she says King slammed the door shut from behind her.”
Other members of the production crew also commented on Gary’s behavior. One stated that they’ve “constantly” witnessed Gary making women uncomfortable with aggressive pursuits, while another claimed that they witnessed Gary grabbing a woman’s butt, continuing to touch her despite her spoken words of “No, stop, don’t.”
If these new allegations are true, the outcries of “Gary has never forced…” can die, and the executives who allowed Gary to stay should face accountability.
Gary Denies (Then Deletes) The New Allegations
Once Samantha’s interview was released, viewers swarmed Gary’s social media accounts. He’s since deleted many of his replies, but Reddit and the viewers stay winning, sharing his claims of this all being a lie.
At this point, it’s years of toxic patterns alongside these new allegations vs. Gary.
Below Deck Sailing Yacht’s Future Is Now In Jeopardy
Gary kept his job for Season 4. In addition, it is rumored that he has already filmed the entirety of Season 5. However, with the reality TV reckoning currently taking place, these claims will have to be addressed.
On how they can fire Gary when Season 5 has already been shot, one needs to look no further than Peter Hunziker from Below Deck Mediterranean Season 5. Peter also shot an entire season, but when racist posts were discovered, he was fired. Since his season was filmed, this firing was dealt with in a unique manner. Here, the post-production teams had the grueling job of editing Peter’s likeness out of every scene.
If these new claims hold weight, Gary could also face an edit, which would likely destroy Season 5. Unlike Peter, Gary is a staple cast member, so the majority of the scenes contain his presence. In reality, it’s a borderline impossible job.
The only other option would be to scrap the season, recast Gary’s role, and shoot everything again. Either way, Gary’s time of reckoning is here, and the future of Below Deck Sailing Yacht is now in jeopardy.
TELL US – WOULD GARY’S LACK OF SCREEN TIME CHANGE THE FUTURE OF BELOW DECK SAILING YACHT? WOULD THIS CHANGE BE POSITIVE OR NEGATIVE?
