The Below Deck cast passed judgment on Jill Zarin — and now it’s her turn to return the favor.
“I went into it with the attitude that I want to make a good show. I was me, I literally was me. I was me the way I am in my real life,” Jill, 60, explained on the Tuesday, April 9, episode of the “Juicy Scoop” podcast.
After watching her scenes from season 11, Jill appeared to have no regrets, adding, “If I like my Diet Coke then I want another. If I don’t like it then I will send it back. If I don’t like my food then I send it back. Most people do.”
The former Real Housewives of New York City star said St. David being a megayacht meant she expected a higher level of service.
“It was $45,000 for two nights. You get on the boat at 12 and right away you get lunch,” she continued. “You get an explanation — which I actually taped on my phone that I am going to post — of [chief steward] Fraser [Olender] explaining the layout of the next two days.”
Jill made her debut on Below Deck earlier this month when she was a guest on a two-day charter. Her demands, however, quickly became too much for the crew.
“Jill is the primary in her head. She’s overwhelming,” stew Barbie Pascual said in a confessional before apologizing via social media after the episode aired. “I think she’s annoying and I think it is too much. You are a freeloading guest who is extremely demanding. This is too much for me. I need another stew just for Jill.”
Throughout the charter, Jill brought up certain issues, such as food service, directly to Fraser. “Can I give you another recommendation for the yacht? I had this on mine,” she added. “A button for the primary, and it is like a doorbell. I used to have a doorbell and it would go up to the kitchen.”
Fraser said the demands made him feel as if Jill was “crawling into” his brain and “eating away” at his soul. In response, Jill claimed it was Fraser’s fault that she and her friends weren’t thrilled with their time on the yacht.
“In fact, one of the things he emphasized which is ironic is that there would be snacks and food all the time everywhere. He actually emphasized and completely didn’t deliver,” she noted on Tuesday. “When I think about the trip, it was the head stew’s job to make sure things went seamlessly, and I kind of blame him for the trip being a total disaster.”
Jill “felt terrible” for her fellow guests, adding, “They spent an enormous amount of money. I wanted them to have an amazing experience. … I did this show because my friends wanted to go on TV — I don’t blame them. I didn’t mind doing it with them because as long as I am me, I am good.”
Before Jill’s onscreen appearance on Below Deck, Fraser teased the challenging charter. “She’s sweet. She’s very lovely and very funny — but demanding,” Fraser exclusively told Us Weekly in February. “[But] all guests are demanding. They’re charter guests and they’ve got their preferences and sometimes they can be frustrating.”
Fraser also commented on Jill’s craziest request, sharing, “It’s going to be the ice. She didn’t like any of the ice apart from a specific one. From a specific freezer. So we had to have a specific ice box that kind of followed wherever she went. I love it. If that’s the biggest concern, then we should [be good].”
Below Deck season 11 airs on Bravo Mondays at 9 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Peacock.
