TV

Bobby Giancola from 'Below Deck Mediterranean' recently recounted what went on with deckhand Danny Zureikat behind the scenes during season 1. He and Zureikat started out as friends on the boat. But that friendship was tested when he said Zureitkat pushed the crew's buttons.

Published on August 21, 2021

Below Deck Mediterranean Season 1 ended with deckhand Danny Zureikat getting fired after he crossed the line with a guest and spent more time taking photos than doing deck work. And while he left the boat because of his work, some viewers believe Zureikat was unjustly bullied and ganged up on, especially by deckhand Bobby Giancola and first officer Bryan Kattenburg. Giancola recently recalled what it was like to work with Zureikat, sharing that the deckhand joined the show mainly to be on TV and not because he was interested in yachting.

Was Danny Zureikat on ‘Below Deck Mediterranean’ because he was into yachting?

“When it came to Danny, you know, he wanted to be there for TV,” Giancola told Showbiz Cheat Sheet. “I mean, and I would say that that sounds a little bit of like cop out, but he overexaggerated things. You know, and we had so many talks with him and he would cry to us, say, I want to make you guys proud. And we were like, dude, so do we!”

“And it gets to a point where it’s a broken record,” Giancola said. “How many times can you tell somebody just do what the boss says and you’ll be fine? But he always wanted to talk back and that’s when things got ugly. Obviously, he was manipulative, you know, he knew that obviously there’s a no violence policy. If you get physical with someone, you’re gone, right? And he was pushing people’s buttons.”

Bobby Giancola said Danny Zureikat pushed the ‘Below Deck Med’ crew’s buttons

Giancola said Zureikat endlessly needled the crew and pushed them as far as he could. “But if you watch back, never did we belittle him and call him mean names and these like homophobic comments,” he said. “We just said he sucked at his job. We didn’t attack is his persona. So when he’s coming, he’s pressing our buttons by telling me and Bryan to go do inappropriate things to each other. It’s like there’s only so much anybody can take no matter who you are. And that’s when it gets it gets loud.”

But Giancola admitted that Kattenburg could come off as being abrasive. “And that was one of Bryan’s faults,” Giancola said. “He knew that.” Giancola and Kattenburg became close friends and Kattenburg would often ask Giancola to help him with Zureikat. “And so with Bryan, you know, we bonded and he knew he had those issues,” Giancola said. “And that’s why he would send me to talk to Danny because at first, Danny and I were friends.”

Plenty of Bobby Giancola and Danny Zureikat’s heart to heart talks didn’t air on ‘Below Deck Mediterranean’

Giancola said he would have heart-to-heart talks with Zureikat that didn’t end up being shown. “And me and him would have these talks,” Giancola recalled about Zureikat. “And, you know, there’s a lot of footage that they film and I think it’s like nine terabytes or something like that. I mean, just a crazy amount of footage that they have to go through. And sometimes they don’t post everything. They don’t show everything.”

Giancola joins Colin Macy-O’Toole on the Below Deck Galley Talk couch. Episodes of Below Deck Mediterranean air on Mondays at 9 pm ET/PT on Bravo. New episodes will drop one week early on Mondays on Peacock. Below Deck Galley Talk airs on Fridays at 8 pm ET/PT on Bravo.

ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7pLTEmqusoJWawW%2BvzqZmnqakmr%2B1rcinpJ6mpGSvprjOsGSdnZOgeq6xw6Krnqqilrumrc1mmaiakq56qLXAp5qopJFir6a0yKebZquTmrumv4ydmKemqWLHtr7EoqKarF6dwa64jg%3D%3D