Entertainment
Below Deck’s Jean-Luc Cerza-Lanaux offers tearful plea to Dani Soares over paternity test drama: ‘I want to be there for you’
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Below Deck star Jean-Luc Cerza-Lanaux has offered a heartfelt plea to Dani Soares after asking for a paternity test.
The deckhand skipped the Sailing Yacht season 2 reunion with his castmates, but appeared for a separate chat with Bravo host Andy Cohen, where he opened up about his relationship with the stewardess, who gave birth to baby girl Lilly last month.
While she didn’t publicly confirm who the father of her daughter is, JL angered his co-stars when he broke his silence on the news on Instagram, claiming he found out about the birth on social media.
Having his say on the situation, the star has now said: ‘I just think that, just don’t really judge a book by its cover. I understand how I’m probably being perceived right now. I just want everyone to know that if this my child, I want everything to do with this kid.
‘I haven’t told Dani this but I’ve thought about moving to Australia. There’s been a lot of scenarios running through my mind these past eight months.’
Getting emotional, he continued: ‘I’ve thought about every possible avenue, every f**king avenue and I haven’t come up with one yet.
‘To Dani: What we had on the show, for me, was real. I don’t care what anybody says, even now that we’re going through what we’re going through.
‘What I felt for you and the time we had was genuine, everything that I ever said to you was true. And the fact that we’re at where we are now, I’m really sorry and I would assume to say that most of it is my fault.
‘Maybe because I’m the boy that you think that I am, I don’t know, but with that being said, I want to be there for you and I just want to know what I’ve asked you for months now.’
‘Though you may not want anything to do with me because of me asking you for a paternity test, I understand that, that’s something that I can get over,’ JL said.
‘But what I can’t get over is if this is my child, is not being there for her, to watch her grow up, to watch her learn how to eat, to watch her learn how to walk, I can’t get over that.
‘I need you to know I did support your decision and still do. I really hope that we can co-parent together mutually, and have respect for one another like we did.
He added: ‘I’m sorry things happened the way that they did, I really am.’
Dani gave birth to baby Lilly in May, sharing the first snap of her first child on social media soon after.
She didn’t speak of the father’s identity, simply stating it would just be her and her daughter from now on.
JL, who had a relationship with Dani on board during the latest season, sparked a fierce backlash when he broke his silence on Instagram, expressing his hurt at seeing headlines that ‘the father wasn’t interested in being involved’, with many of his co-stars calling him out in a heated comments section.
In a follow-up post, he uploaded a throwback snap of himself as a newborn baby, in a bid to hit back ‘haters’.
‘I learned of the baby’s birth, not the pregnancy, on IG. Yes, I know paternity test kits are available at drugstores but the goal is for us to take the tests together instead of shipping saliva samples around the world. But yes, there will be one ASAP,’ he posted beside a throwback snap of himself as a newborn.
‘No, Australia isn’t open yet or I would have already gone so those of you saying “just go” must not know that. We are truly on different continents so easier said than done.
‘Why am I sharing on Insta? Because its the only way I have to set the record straight about me not wanting to be involved if the baby is mine. I absolutely do. It’s also the same platform she blocked me on 12/31,’ he added.
‘Why did I leave comments on when many of them are negative? Because it’s real. Haters gonna hate and everyone is entitled to an opinion no matter how misinformed it may be. Good news is I also received a ton of much needed support. I also got a message from Dani last night on WhatsApp… [sic].’
Below Deck Sailing Yacht is available to stream now on HayU.
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