It started out innocently enough, just two co-stars hooking up during filming for the second season of Below Deck: Sailing Yacht. Per usual, really. But then, one of those two, Dani Soares, ended up pregnant not long after, and the other, Jean-Luc Cerza-Lanaux, denied that he was the father. In fact, at the bombshell Bravo reunion, Soares spoke out about her former fling wanting nothing to do with the baby without a paternity test. Jean-Luc finally confirmed his paternity of the child just a few weeks ago, and their previous castmates are dropping some honest thoughts on the entire scandalous ordeal.
When (mostly) everything came out at the reunion, the cast rallied behind Dani Soares and admonished Jean-Luc Cerza-Lanaux for his hesitancy. And, now that the former Below Deck: Sailing Yacht deckhand has gone public with his fatherhood, Gary King and Daisy Kelliher are getting more candid about the situation. Speaking about Jean-Luc’s confirmation post on Instagram, where he also lamented the perception of him, Kelliher said to E! News:
I thought it wasn't an appropriate post. I don't think something so complicated should be talked so openly on social media in my opinion, especially for Lilly, who can't vocalize for herself. But that's just my opinion. It's not really any of my business, but I think the post could have been more about Lilly and Dani and maybe a bit less about Jean-Luc.
Dani Soares gave birth to their daughter, Lilly, back in May. She has been vocal about her struggles as a single mom and, more recently, catching COVID-19 alongside Lilly. Daisy Kelliher explained to E! that she can’t judge Jean-Luc Cerza-Lanaux “too much” for what’s transpired, given how “young” he is. But she says the 26-year-old will “learn the hard way,” presumably about life.
Gary King, on the other hand, had much harsher words for his former colleague and his paternity revelation. The Sailing Yacht alum frankly stated that him just coming clean about the scandal wasn’t enough to move the dial for his new family. He shared:
I guess that's good on him but Dani doesn't need him to come out on Instagram telling everybody that he's a father. Dani needs [more than that]. She's a single parent living in Australia by herself, she needs support from Jean-Luc. She needs a father to be there for the child. It's all good in saying stuff on social media but words are completely different to actions and if his actions spoke louder than his words, then then it would be different, but they at the moment they're not.
The reality star continued that he’ll never forgive Jean-Luc Cerza-Lanaux for running “away from the truth.” Simply put, Gary King said he was just “brought up differently” than his former co-star.
Dani Soares and Jean-Luc Cerza-Lanaux did not return to the show for another round of drama, but Daisy Kelliher and Gary King both are. Surprisingly, the trailer for Season 3 showed the two actually engaging in a bit of romance, despite King’s notoriously messy hookups last year. And to think we thought the series couldn’t possibly continue its streak of outrageous occurrences. Fans can tune into the new season of Below Deck: Sailing Yacht when it premieres on Bravo on February 21 at 8 p.m. EST!
