Who is Samantha Suarez? Below Deck makeup artist accuses Gary King of s*xual misconduct 

The following Below Deck copy mentions s*xual harassment. Reader discretion is advised.

Below Deck has once again found itself surrounded by controversy. The Bravo show's production team and crew recently received much praise for handling the Luke Jones x Margot Sisson scandal on Down Under in the August 7, 2023 episode.

However, this week, a former crew member, Samantha Suarez, spoke up about an unfortunate incident regarding Gary King while she was working with the Sailing Yacht season 4 team in 2022.

While on the Bravo show, the 27-year-old makeup and hair artist from Atlanta, Samantha, also helped the talent manager with daily tasks, including ensuring that the cast didn't bump into one another and followed the COVID rules. A part of her job was bringing the cast food and water to the cast's rooms.

Not much information is available about Samantha's online presence, and she spoke about her experience working with the Below Deck cast while conversing with Rolling Stones Magazine.

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"It just happened so fast" Samantha Suarez alleges workplace harassment by Gary King while filming Below Deck Sailing Yacht

Below Deck has been in the news recently for all the good reasons. Earlier this month, fans took to social media to praise Bravo and the franchise for handling the s*xual misconduct of two cast members by firing them from the show.

However, recently, the tide seems to have turned as news of yet another cast member's inappropriate behavior comes to light. Samantha Suarez, someone who worked in the franchise first during the original show's season 10, followed by her time on Below Deck Sailing Yacht season 4, recently opened up about Gary King's inappropriate behavior towards her.

Samanta Suarez, a makeup and hair artist, recently spoke to Rolling Stone magazine about her behind-the-scenes experience working in one of Bravo's most popular shows. She noted that she was responsible for helping the talent manager take care of the main cast members on top of hair and makeup.

During the interview, she talked about one of the "dark days," which refers to days when the cast isn't actively filming. She noted that in July 2022, she was accompanying a drunk Gary King back to his room. However, when they reached his room, he insisted that she stay back.

Samantha added that she joked with the cast member and told him she would sit outside his room, but King suggested that she get into his bed. She left but later returned to hand him some snacks and water. In the interview, she added that he opened the door in his underwear and kept telling her not to leave. He refused to take the water bottle from her, which led her to walk in and put the water down.

"I was like, 'I have to go -- I need to bring other people water and food,' and he's like, 'No, no, please. So I stepped into the room to set the case of waters down and again, he's repeating, 'Don't leave.' and I was like 'I have to, I'm not staying."

Samantha added that the Below Deck Sailing Yacht First Mate "came up behind her, grabbed her, and pressed her against his body." Rolling Stones further reports that King refused to let go of her even though she tried to kick and elbow him."

"At that point, I didn't know what was going to happen. I was freaking out. It just happened so fast."

During the interview, the Below Deck team member also noted that she made the executive producers and some of the other cast members aware of the incident. While they sympathized with her, they asked her not to discuss it further.

Below Deck is currently airing Down Under season 2 on Bravo, episodes of which air every Monday.