‘Below Deck’ Gary King Tells Fans ‘BACK OFF’ Ashley Marti?

Below Deck star Gary King is telling fans to “back off” Ashley Marti. This comes amid the ever-growing allegations against the third stew. Fans have stormed social media and the comment section of TV Shows Ace to share their reaction to the controversial episode. During a previous episode, Gary and Ashley got drunk and allegedly hooked up in the guest cabin.

However, Gary was more intoxicated than Ashley was. He claims he fell asleep, while Ashley says they slept together. Gary says he doesn’t remember what happened. In a new interview, Gary believes that viewers have blown the whole thing out of proportion.

Gary King vehemently defends Ashley Marti

The Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season 3 crew member broke his silence on the assault allegations. Fans didn’t see any humor in that scene. They’ve been calling for Ashley Marti’s firing ever since it aired. During his appearance on the Daisy Kelliher and Alli Dore’s Beneath the Surface podcast, Gary was very defensive about Ashley.

He revealed that she got a lot of hate after that episode aired. All three of the Below Deck crew members checked in with her afterward. Gary confirmed that Ashley did not assault him during that episode. But he’s still unsure as to what happened.

Gary also suggested this wasn’t the first time they slept together. He just wished he was sober enough to remember it. The Below Deck star received a lot of messages from concerned fans, which he acknowledged, but then said that they made it bigger than it was.

“Anything I can say, I guess, is that it wasn’t the first time that we hooked up,” Gary said on the Tuesday, May 10 episode of the Beneath the Surface podcast. “I would have wished I wasn’t that drunk, but I think people are making a bigger deal out of it than it was. So thanks everyone for caring. I do appreciate that. But it was blown a bit out of proportion.”

Both Daisy and Gary reached out to Ashley after the incident aired. They wanted to make sure that she was doing well. Gary called out the Below Deck fans who dragged her on social media. He claims they’re “hurting a very young, vulnerable person.”

Below Deck star reached out to Ashley Marti

Gary reached out to Ashley after the episode aired. He didn’t watch that episode of Below Deck when it first came out. However, he knew something was wrong when he received DMs about that scene. That’s when Gary reached out to Ashley about it.

“I really didn’t watch the episode prior to messaging her,” Gary explained. “I was just getting messages and comments about it all. So I figured that something would have happened. I messaged Ashley saying, ‘I haven’t watched the episode,’ but due to the messages that I’m getting, I can only imagine the messages that you’re receiving.”

The returning Below Deck fan-favorite apologized to Ashley about the backlash. He even told her not to “take anything personally and don’t listen to these people.” Ashley informed him that she doesn’t “listen to these trolls anyways.” It’s similar to the statement she made on Twitter in early April.

What are your thoughts on Gary defending Ashley? Do you think she assaulted him? Or, do you think it was blown out of proportion? Sound off below in the comment section.

Below Deck Sailing Yacht Season 3 airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET on Bravo.