Producer Calls Gary, Sydney, and Alli's Drama "Fun," "Cringey," and "Heartbreaking"
Below Deck Sailing Yacht executive producer Jill Goslicky discusses the many twists and turns for Gary King, Sydney Zaruba, and Alli Dore in Season 2.
It was one of the quickest hookups in Below Deck history. First mate Gary King and deckhand Sydney Zaruba got in some alone time together in one of the guest cabins during the crew's first night off of Season 2 of Below Deck Sailing Yacht.
But as rapidly as things heated up between Gary and Sydney this charter season, they cooled down even faster. Gary soon told Sydney he wanted to just be friends with the deckhand, and the two agreed to move forward in a professional manner.
That proved to be easier said than done as they continued to hang out, along with third stew Alli Dore, for whom Gary had expressed feelings. Gary, Sydney, and Alli found themselves in "the weirdest throuple" ever, as Alli joked, taking shots and ending a night off by skinny dipping off the yacht.
Sydney and Alli then had a heart-to-heart in which they appeared to be on the same page when it came to Gary. Alli even encouraged Sydney to hop into Gary's bunk to sleep that night. However, Gary continued to turn his attention to Alli, and the two started to have some major PDA in front of the crew, which Sydney didn't seem at all pleased about.
It all came to a head during the yachties' night off in the May 10 episode of Below Deck Sailing Yacht. Alli confronted Sydney about what she perceived to be a cold attitude toward her. Gary also chimed in, putting it bluntly that he has romantic feelings for Alli and not for Sydney. Gary and Alli went off to cuddle in his bunk, while Sydney ended the night in tears. The drama spilled over into the next day when the whole crew could feel the tension between Sydney and Alli during their day off.
To say there have been twists and turns in the dynamic between Gary, Sydney, and Alli so far this season of Below Deck Sailing Yacht would almost be an understatement. Watching it all unfold has not only been shocking for fans but also for executive producer Jill Goslicky, who spoke to Bravo Insider in an exclusive interview in March. "It was pretty surprising every day," she said of documenting the changes in these relationships while filming this season.
Watching how things developed for this trio was an emotional roller coaster for Goslicky as the season went on. "It was fun to watch. It was cringey to watch at times. It was heartbreaking at times," she said. "They had a major boatmance love triangle with a lot of ups and downs."
Even though it wasn't always easy for Gary, Sydney, and Alli to put their feelings on display this season of Below Deck Sailing Yacht, Goslicky applauded them, as well as the entire Parsifal III crew, for not holding anything back.
"I think what I love the most about this cast is that they engaged in this process wholeheartedly. They just decided,' I’m going to be myself. If there are things that I want, I’m going to go after it loudly.' You can easily have a cast that gets camera shy, that has things they want to hide," Goslicky said. "And every single person, especially Sydney, Gary and Alli, they just decided, 'This is me. This is who I am. This is how I’m feeling. This is what I want.' And because of that, they’re all wearing their emotions on their sleeve. I was just impressed with how they just continued to give in to that and wholeheartedly be a part of the process."
Matt Reichman, Vice President of Current Production at Bravo, added during the same interview that this crew in particular seemed to feel very free in front of the camera. "It’s amazing how quickly the cameras disappear for them this season and then gets translated to the episodes," Reichman said, adding that the Season 2 crew "just brought it."
Being able to bring this crew together to film in the middle of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic also was "a little bit of lightning in a bottle," according to Reichman. "They just had it in them to take advantage and have that 'you only live once' kind of season and really just went for it," he said of the crew.
Goslicky said that she has rarely seen anyone be as open with their lives in front of the camera as this crew. "There’s something brave in being as vulnerable as they were all willing to be, ‘cause there are times where they’re going through something tough, and they can easily say, 'I don’t want this on camera.' What is unique about this cast is every single one of them signed up and said, 'I committed to being fully honest through this process,' and they never looked back," she shared. "And I’ve honestly never had an ensemble on any show in my career where the entire cast did that. So they’re really special in that way. And it especially translates to really fun to watch."
Want more Below Deck Sailing Yacht? New episodes air every Monday at 9/8c or catch up on the Bravo app.
