“Below Deck Sailing Yacht” star Gary King has been accused of sexually assaulting a staffer on the show by trying “to force himself” on her.
Samantha Suarez, who joined “Below Deck” in the makeup department on Season 10 of the original Bravo reality series, said in an interview published Thursday that the incident occurred last summer during production on Season 4 of the “Sailing Yacht” spinoff.
Suarez, 27, told Rolling Stone that she met King when the cast and crew arrived in Sardinia, Italy, to begin shooting.
She said the crew stayed at a hotel for the duration of filming, and cast members would join them prior to going on the yacht as well as on their off days.
During one off day in July 2022, Suarez — who also worked alongside a talent manager with daily tasks including bringing food and water to cast members — said she accompanied an allegedly inebriated King back to his hotel room after filming.
“There is no limit to alcohol consumption whatsoever, which I think poses a really big problem,” she told the magazine.
Suarez remembered King, 35, “behaving erratically” when she brought him to his room, yelling from his balcony to his castmates so they could sneak out of their rooms — which was not allowed.
Suarez claimed King begged her not to leave his room, and she joked that she would sit outside the door to prevent him from leaving.
She then alleged that King asked her to get in bed with him, although he was aware that she was in a relationship with someone else.
Suarez then left the Bravolebrity’s room but later returned with snacks and water. That’s when she claims he answered the door wearing just his underwear. When he took the case of water from her, he allegedly asked her not to leave his room again.
“I was like, ‘I have to go — I need to go bring other people water and food,’ and he’s like, ‘No, no, please,’” Suarez told Rolling Stone. “So I stepped into the room to set the case of waters down and again, he’s repeating, ‘Don’t leave,’ and I was like, ‘I have to go, I’m not staying.’”
Suarez said that when she turned toward the door, King allegedly “came up behind her, grabbed her, pressed her against his body and refused to let go of her” even though she tried to “kick and elbow him to get him off her.”
She said that once she was able to get out of his grasp, she tried to leave out the door, but King allegedly slammed it shut from behind her.
“At that point, I didn’t know what was going to happen. I was freaking out,” she recalled. “It just happened so fast.”
But at that time, Suarez said, she received a phone call from the talent manager. She claimed that’s when King let go of the door and she was able to get into the hallway to answer the call.
“I’m freaking out, and he goes, ‘What’s wrong? What’s going on?’ And I’m like, ‘Just leave me alone,'” she said.
“He tried to come up behind me and put his arm around me. He’s in the hallway in his underwear, and it’s all weird and f–ked up, and so I’m just like, ‘Just go back in your room and don’t come out.’”
Suarez said she immediately told producers what allegedly occurred with King. The following day, she said, she no longer felt comfortable working with him, and the producers allegedly assured her that King would be fired if any more incidents took place.
Producers then reportedly removed King from the hotel, and he was instructed to sleep on the boat for the duration of filming.
“It pretty much sucked from there on out,” Suarez said. “I was just in a super depressive state.”
Suarez shared that she stayed in her hotel room for a week following the alleged incident and even debated leaving the show altogether.
In response, a spokesperson for Bravo says in a statement to Pvnew, “Bravo is committed to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for cast and crew on our reality shows. We require our third-party production companies to have appropriate workplace policies and trainings in place and a clear process on how to report concerns.
“The concerns Ms. Suarez raised in July 2022 were investigated at that time, and action was taken based on the findings.”
Pvnew did not immediately hear back from “Below Deck” production company 51 Minds Entertainment.
King, meanwhile, declined to comment on the mag’s bombshell story.
Rolling Stone also spoke to other crew members who claimed King allegedly made women feel uncomfortable on set.
“He’s next-level scary with women,” one alleged.
Another crew member — who wanted to remain anonymous — told the publication that they allegedly witnessed King grab a female cast member’s butt and touch her inappropriately even when she asked him to stop. He was also allegedly caught grabbing the genitals of a production crew member and a male camera operator.
“It was insane. There were multiple incidents of sexual harassment in front of multiple producers after this person had been given verbal warnings multiple times,” the anonymous crew member claimed.
Earlier this month, Bravo and NBC made headlines for being accused of subjecting their reality stars to “grotesque and depraved mistreatment.”
In a legal letter obtained by Pvnew, attorneys Bryan Freedman and Mark Geragos claimed the networks ply their talent with “alcohol while depriving them of food and sleep,” deny mental health treatment for those displaying “obvious and alarming signs of mental deterioration” and cover up “acts of sexual violence.”
An NBCUniversal spokesperson responded by saying it is “committed to maintaining a safe and respectful workplace for cast and crew on our reality shows,” echoing Bravo’s statement.
