Captain Glenn Shephard Addresses Critics of His Relationship With Dani Jimenez

Heavy/NBCUniversal Captain Glenn Shephard

A year after Captain Glenn Shephard went public with his relationship with Danelis “Dani” Jimenez, the “Below Deck Sailing Yacht” captain is addressing some of the criticism aimed at the couple.

Shephard, 62, and Jimenez, 43, dated for several years before going public with their relationship, but on November 21, he responded to criticism over their 19-year age gap. “Celebrating Danelis’ 43rd birthday today at a restaurant on the beach in Portixol, Palma de Mallorca,” he captioned the photo of the couple on Instagram. “It’s so nice to spend a bit of time at home, but we’re back out on the road tomorrow.”

Shephard then added, “Some here have commented that Danelis looks like my daughter or I’m old enough to be her dad, a couple of things, first, tell me something I don’t know and those people won’t be bothering us here anymore, I think its totally fine to think things like that but what kind of lousy person says that to your face and in front of your friends while hiding behind a keyboard.”

“Secondly I can assure you she passed the dating equation before we got serious i.e. (elder partner’s age divided by two plus seven years) Danelis squeaked through with a few weeks to spare😂,” he joked. “Believe it or not I carded her on our first date because I also thought she looked too young, I literally asked to see her passport.”

Shephard then said he knew their age difference would cause raised eyebrows among some people but that he didn’t want to let it stop their relationship as they were perfect for each other. “Like I always say, life is short and you only die once and when you do, you stay that way for a very long time,” he concluded. “To all of you who have maybe had that thought and chose to keep it to yourselves, thank you.”

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Captain Glenn Shephard Made His Relationship Public in November 2022 But Had Hinted at His Relationship Prior to That

Shephard first began posting photos of his girlfriend on social media in November 2022 but the couple has been together a lot longer than that. At the time, he posted some photos of the two together on a flight and joked that he had been working up the courage to talk to her.

His public launch of their relationship came after he told Bravo’s The Daily Dish in March 2022 that he was seeing someone but she didn’t want to be “out there in public.” In fact, he previously shared with Bravo Insider that he was seeing someone but “she prefers to stay out of the limelight, so I don’t really talk about it online.”

Captain Glenn Shephard’s Girlfriend Danelis ‘Dani’ Jimenez Also Works on Sailboats

According to Bravo’s The Daily Dish, Jimenez, who is originally from the Dominican Republic, also works in the sailing industry.

Shephard told the publication that the couple, who loves to travel together, are based in Palma de Mallorca, Spain. Though Jimenez’s Instagram is set to private, her profile picture features her at the helm of a boat with her bio reading, “Home is where the hook hits the mud.”

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