Jill Zarin is speaking out about her controversial appearance on Below Deck — apology not included!
The Real Housewives of New York City alum, 60, appeared on a recent episode of fellow Bravolebirty Jeff Lewis’ talk show, Jeff Lewis Live, in which the host asked Zarin about her episode of the Bravo show.
Zarin and her boyfriend Gary Brody went on the show as friends of the primary charter guests and were featured on the season 11 episode of Below Deck called “Real Housewives of Granada.”
The TV personality was depicted as one of the most demanding guests ever to appear on the chartered boat. Footage showed her demanding special “nugget ice” for her Diet Coke. She also appeared condescending as she asked for toiletries and suggested the stewards on the ship gave guests buttons so they could get service at a moment’s notice.
She and her party also sent back a burgers during a lunch because they were “cold.” The crew admitted the lunch was a “disaster” and the captain apologized to the guests.
On his radio show, Lewis, 54, asked her to reflect on her experience, telling her he didn’t think her behavior was as horrible as people on social media and the crew members on the boat made it out to be.
Zarin told Lewis that two nights on the boat, including five meals, cost Brody’s business partner $45,000, plus money for the tip that’s included in the original price. On top of that, Zarin said she added $6,000 to the tip.
“I should never have done it, obviously,” she said at one point in the interview, calling the extra money she added to the tip “stupid” in hindsight.
“As you saw on the show, lunch was a disaster….and dinner was a disaster of which I think the chef was soon after fired because he wasn’t up to serving that kind of a group,” Zarin continued.
She said that even though she and her friends paid about $2,000 per meal during their stay, “We didn’t eat. And if I was a little cranky, well it could be ’cause I was starving and I kept on asking for an apple or a piece of fruit and nobody would give me any,” she said.
Zarin said she wasn’t trying to be difficult, she was only trying to give the crew “advice.”
“What they said I was the worst guest in the world for is absolutely ridiculous because everything I said was yes, a teaching moment for them. Everything I gave was a suggestion in a very nice and loving way,” she said.
“I wasn’t not nice,” she said, adding that some of the Below Deck crew, including the lead steward, defended her.
She admitted she was “shocked” by some of the things the cast members said about her in the confessional interviews.
“You know what they did it for ratings and they got it. Look at them. Everyone’s talking about that episode and no one’s even talking about it the whole year,” she said, adding “nobody would’ve watched it” if not for her.
“Bravo to me, I guess I was right and it’s all good and I love the captain and at the time I had a great time, I was not complaining. I walked off the boat having a great time,” she concluded.