Below Deck Sailing Yacht star Gary King needs no introduction to fans of Bravo’s spinoff yachting show. The sailing superyacht first officer and ladies’ man has charmed most female crew members, charter guests and viewers since first starring on BDSY season 2 in Croatia. King’s witty one-liners, relentless flirtatiousness, rugged good-looks and man-bun have many a Below Deck fan swooning. His fearlessness in danger also gains him points. However, his overly gregarious nature sometimes gets him into trouble. From leading women on or not giving his deckhands enough training and patience, he’s let some people down. Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 4 in particular is revealing King’s unprofessional side. Despite his foibles, Captain Glenn Shephard and his fellow crew members over the past few seasons tend to have a soft spot for the longtime sailor. Here’s everything fans need to know about Below Deck Sailing Yacht‘s Gary King.
BDSY star Gary King as a young boy growing up in South Africa (Instagram).
Below Deck Sailing Yacht‘s Gary: Age, Birthday & Zodiac Sign Explained
Gary with his mom (Instagram).
Gary King’s actual age is a major topic of discussion for the BDSY fanbase because of his predilection for dating younger co-workers. Some fans have guessed the Tarzan lookalike is in his late 30s or early 40s. Smoking like a chimney, basking in the sun all day, working endless hours, depriving himself of sleep and drinking like a fish probably weathered Gary, making him look older than his actual years.
According to Page Six, King is like Benjamin Button, getting younger as the years pass. In June 2022, the nonchalant playboy was noted at age 33. However, the same New York celeb news publication claimed he was 31 in April 2023. Other publications are now claiming he’s currently 31, too.
Gary enjoying some fame from starring on BDSY, recently meeting rapper Ludacris (Instagram).
However, Gary said he was 33-and-a-half at the start of Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 3, when third stewardess Ashley Marti asked him his age on episode 1. However, he was joking, slightly increasing his age because Marti said she dates guys between 27 to 34. Gary’s birthday, according to congratulations and a post by him on Instagram is July 12 (surprisingly making him a goofy, sensitive Cancer). BDSY season 3 filmed in August 2021. So, Gary would’ve just celebrated an additional year traveling around the sun at the time of telling Marti his age.
Co-star Colin MacRae wishing his buddy Gary a happy birthday (Instagram).
Daisy wishing her co-star and possible flame Gary a happy bday (Instagram).
“We’re all 32 or 33. Like Colin, Daisy, me, Alli, Natasha, and Gary,” BDSY season 2 stew Dani Soares told Showbiz Cheat Sheet back in May 2021.
On BDSY season 2, episode 11, Daisy said Gary is age 32. “It’s weird to meet someone, at 32 years of age, and he was in bed with another girl a week ago. [Bleeping] grow up.” Filming happened in August 2020, so Gary is now age 34, but will turn 35 in July.
In that light, King fooling around with then-24-year-old stewardess Mads Herrera on Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 4 was a 10-year age gap in their boatmance.
Gary celebrating his birthday on July 12 (Instagram).
BDSY Star Gary King’s Previous Jobs, Friends, Family, Height, Travel, Sports
At 18, Gary landed his first yachting job during a gap year between high school and college while traveling in Europe. He worked his way up the ranks, from deckhand, to lead deckhand, to bosun, to first officer. and even captain (on smaller vessels). “Gary’s 13 years of experience is apparent in the way he runs his deck team. On one hand, he rules his department with an iron fist but on the other hand, he is never the type to leave a party first,” reads King’s Bravo profile on his work history.
Gary working on another sailing superyacht before becoming a reality TV star (Instagram).
Gary captained smaller boats and also managed deck teams on other superyachts before joining Captain Glenn on Parsifal III.
“I’m like five-foot-eight, five-foot-nine,” King told Page Six recently, for all those wondering how tall (or short) Gary stands in height.
Gary goofing around with his niece (Instagram).
King’s nationality is South African, growing up in the country’s Western Cape province in a small town called Knysna. Gary is very close with his mom, Sylvi Tiilikainen, who in season 2 he talked to constantly while away on charter. He’s also got a strong relationship with his older brother Ryan King and his family, who live in New Zealand. Gary’s a proud uncle to his brother’s two kids, too. Sadly, Gary’s dad isn’t part of his life.
Gary with his mom and brother (Instagram).
Besides making lots of good friends while filming BDSY, like Chief Engineer Colin MacRae and Chef Marcos Spaziani, King also keeps in touch with his good friend back in South Africa. He even traveled with his best friend in Denmark recently.
Gary catching up with friends back home on some time off from working on superyachts (Instagram).
Gary traveling in Copenhagen with his best buddy (Instagram).
King worked in Turkey, Croatia, Italy on other sailing superyachts before landing anchor with Captain Glenn. King’s a well-seasoned traveler, also touring France, Rome, Greece, Morocco, Spain, various Caribbean islands, Cuba, Norway, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Russia, Netherlands, the UK, and America.
Gary golfing with his good friend Captain Glenn (Instagram).
Gary’s also quite the athlete. He’s an adept Skateboarder, surfer, wakeboarder, golfer, fisherman, and kite surfer. Gary and his brother both got hole-in-ones at their hometown golf course growing up.
Surfer Gary catching a big wave (Instagram).
Who Below Deck Sailing Yacht’s Gary Dated & Hooked Up With On Show & Ex Girlfriend Before Show
Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 2 crew: Gary, Colin, Natasha, Dani, Alli, Sydney, and Jean-Luc (Instagram).
Bravo describes its BDSY Casanova as “[brimming with] mischievous charm but his flirtation gets him in hot water on and off deck.” That’s quite the understatement. A promo for the latest season has his buddy and co-star and him counting how many girls he “hooked up with” on Below Deck Sailing Yacht. They both put seven, so lets recap the ladies the Lothario wooed/played. (Note, unless Bravo left out a lot of the story, “hooked up” doesn’t necessarily mean slept with, but at least kissed.)
On King’s reality TV debut, Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 2, he started off by hooking up with his subordinate, American deckhand Sydney Zaruba — hitting a homerun right off the bat. He then proceeded to lead Irish Chief Stewardess Daisy Kelliher on, before getting himself in a boatmance with Australian Alli Dore. Meanwhile he made his inferior upset and jealous throughout the season as she had a major crush on her boss. King’s relationship soured when Dore discovered King slept with Zaruba earlier on in the charter season. But they rekindled their romance while working on an Atlantic crossing for Parsifal III after the show finished filming. Alas, that boatmance ship sailed as soon as Dore returned home to Australia.
On the Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 2 reunion, fans discovered more of King’s slippery side. Dore, for some reason chastising Zaruba more so than King, dropped a bombshell. King had a girlfriend when starting the show. Dore said he cheated on his girlfriend with Zaruba.
Upon getting outed as a cheater, King tried to minimize the damage to his sinking ship. He claimed he was basically estranged from his then-girlfriend, Norwegian knockout yachtie Marthe Møller.
Gary with his ex girlfriend Marthe (Instagram).
“Now that it’s come out, yes I did. We were in a very complicated relationship. I hadn’t seen her for eight months prior to me coming on the show,” Gary said in response.
Yet Møller’s Instagram shows she visited Knysna Elephant Park, in Gary’s hometown, in March 2020. That’s only four months before Gary went on the show. Gary and Marthe started dating as far back as early 2017, meaning they dated for three-and-a-half years before the split.
Gary with his ex girlfriend Marthe visiting him in South Africa (Instagram).
On BDSY season 3, King went even wilder in his dogged skirt-chasing ways. He first accidentally, very-drunkenly, hooked up with stew Ashley Marti. From there, King proceeded to fool around with Gabriela Barragan, the stew who abruptly quit the show. He also made out with Daisy in the hot tub, before getting distracted again by the crew’s late addition. King love-bombed Scarlett Bentley, kissing several times before she smartly sidestepped their situationship showmance.
BDSY season 3 crew: Gary, Ashley, Scarlett, Barnaby, Kelsie, Daisy, Marcos, and Colin (Instagram).
Fans still think Gary and Daisy dated and hooked up after BDSY season 3 (Instagram).
For those keeping score, that puts King cad’s total at six female yachties on the show he fooled around with. Add in Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 4 stew Mads Herrera and that’s seven the libidinousness lout. We’ll have to wait and see if Below Deck Sailing Yacht‘s Gary got his math right. Or did he do anything with Chef Ileisha Dell or stewardess Lucy Edmunds, too?
