‘Below Deck Sailing Yacht’ Star Daisy Kelliher On Gary King, Colin MacRae Love Triangle This Season: “I Didn’t Want To Hurt Anyone’s Feelings” (2024)

Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season 4 has featured our much-loved chief stew Daisy Kelliher navigating some pretty rough waters. The yachties of the Parsifal III have experienced a difficult inaugural charter so far (engine trouble, a missing First Officer, demanding guests, a green crew), so Captain Glenn Shephard has been hard at work to try and right the course with the help of his department heads, Gary King, Colin MacRae and Daisy. Unfortunately for Daisy, that means Captain Glenn has put the interior team under extreme scrutiny. As stews Lucy Edmunds and Mads Herrera try their best to meet their captain’s standards, Daisy is having a tough time dealing with the extra pressure, given the already stressful circ*mstances. Instead of her peers rallying around her, Daisy has found herself tearfully adrift with little compassion from the other departments. After a tough episode last week, we spoke to Daisy who confirmed at this point in the season that she’s “over the worst of it.”

Daisy also knows that fans are eager to learn more about the much-hyped love triangle between herself and longtime pals Gary and Colin. “Gary was determined to ruin mine and Colin’s relationship,” she teased when pressured for more details. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings, so I probably didn’t handle it as well as I should have,” Daisy said in hindsight. It also seems beloved lothario Gary will finally get a taste of his own medicine this season, which is long overdue if you ask some viewers!

Over Zoom, we spoke with Daisy about her thoughts about the season so far, crew nights out, and which of her long-haired yachties has the best ‘do.

DECIDER: How has it been watching this season back?

DAISY KELLIHER: Validating [laughs]. It’s a weird one. A year later, you conjure up stories in your head and you wonder if what you remember really happened. As you watch, you feel these emotions that you parked away so long ago rise up again. I get so angry watching the episodes sometimes. It’s a mixed bag of emotions, but overall, I really enjoy watching the season back. While it can be a bit awkward and uncomfortable, I find it pretty funny most of the time. It’s okay.

This charter season feels like the first time, in all your time working together, that you and Captain Glenn haven’t been on the same page.

Last week was a pretty emotional episode for you. Do you think what Colin said about constructive criticism during the tip meeting was a dig toward you?

Well, no one else reacted, so that was towards me. It was a strange episode to watch back. I didn’t get emotional watching it. I just got angry, and I got a lot of messages. My friends were texting me pictures of them crying. I was like, “Why are you all crying?” I think a lot of people found my troubles quite triggering, and I don’t know why Colin did that.

The whole thing was hard to watch. It wasn’t very nice, but hindsight is 20/20. I don’t know how the guys feel about it now. I’m sure they didn’t realize quite how upset I was at the time. I think they all just put it down to my being an emotional woman [laughs].

If I’m being honest, I saw a bit of a boys’ club forming the past couple of episodes.

Boys’ club might be a bit strong a word, I think. There was just a lack of understanding and a lack of wanting to understand. I don’t believe they were trying to hurt me or isolate me or anything like that. Personally, I think you can see elements of their lack of understanding or empathy in the last two seasons. There were times in the past when I went to the guys and told them, “I don’t feel supported,” and they would brush me off. However, I have a lot of respect for all the guys. I love them all individually for different reasons, and I don’t hold anything against any of them.

Colin did hold Gary accountable for taking a smoke break in the last episode while the crew was waiting.

That’s why I wouldn’t go so far as to describe them as a boys’ clubs. The guys can clash with each other. There’s more just a lack of consideration for my role as a chief stew and as a female leader. So I wasn’t that surprised when Colin stood up because we were all fuming. It was not a cool move what Gary did. What you can’t see from the show is that we were going to ask the guests to come up only because it was a surprise. So, we couldn’t ask them to come up until Gary came up. That’s why it looks like the guests weren’t there, but really, we hadn’t asked them to come up because we were waiting for Gary.

I have been loving the new crew this season. What are your thoughts on your fellow yachties?

Honestly, I loved the whole team. At times, Chase did annoy me, but by the end we got through it. I was like, “Okay, I got you. You’re strange, but whatever.” I really enjoy watching him on the show, and his green screens actually make me laugh. I enjoyed Alex as well. I’ve always liked any of the girls I’ve worked with for different reasons. But this year it was just so relaxed. I felt this huge support system. There was no fighting over boys, there was no fighting over roles, and they loved each other. They were really, really close. The dynamic among the interior crew was really lighthearted. Unfortunately, it’s not necessarily coming across in the show because we were all a bit stressed. It was actually a lovely crew.

I’m loving the vibe this season and can’t wait to see more crew nights out. Do you think this group of yachties got sloppier more quickly than previous seasons’ teams?

This was a bit of a different season because we all drank. There were other seasons that there were definitely more reserved crew members. You only had me and Gary and two other people causing trouble. The difference with this season was that we were all on it, which was super fun. Everyone was just loose, and drank every night. Every season I think, “I drank really heavily because we’re really stressed.” And every season I say, “I’m not going to drink heavily. I’m going to not be stressed.” By the time the charter finishes, however, it just gets earlier and earlier till I have my margarita. By 12:00 PM, I’m like four margaritas down. This season was no different. It was fun.

So what can you tell me about your hookup with Colin later in the season?

Nothing [laughs]. It’s all coming. It’s all going to come real fast, so be prepared. It was all a bit of a whirlwind, but, yeah. There’s drama, there’s kissing, there’s a lot.

If you had to rank hair for Alex, Colin, and Gary, how would you rank them?

Alex’s hair is the best because he washes it. He can wear it down. He can wear it up. I’m going to go with Colin next because I do like Colin’s hair, but I don’t think he ever washes it which really freaks me out. Last is Gary’s hair. I don’t mind it when it’s up, but when it’s down… well, I don’t hate it. It’s just my least favorite.

I also wanted to ask about the epic Below Deck meet-up you had in London recently. How did that all come to pass?

There are a few of us around in London anyway. We try to see each other, but obviously we’re all busy as well. Aesha [Scott] obviously had put up that she was coming into town. So, I think everybody messaged her individually about getting together when she was in London , and everyone just happened to be here. Dave [White] was here getting his visa. Courtney [Veale], Fraser [Olender] and I all live in London, but it’s hard to catch up with us here because we’re always traveling for work. Jake [Foulger] is up in Bristol. Hayley [De Sola Pinto] lives a couple of hours away. People were in town for the BAFTAs. It was just this pure coincidence that we were all available this one day. So, we got a group together, and it was so fun.

What can you tease about the rest of the season?

The love triangle is definitely coming up. Gary is getting a bit of a taste of his own medicine this season. There are some more big nights out. Definitely at least one more crazy charter. I’m hoping that the tears and the drama are over. From what I can remember, it’s going to become more lighthearted. My meltdown ends soon, and then the fun begins [laughs].

Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season 4 airs on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Bravo.