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Weston native Tim Demirjian wins Hulu’s ‘Love Overboard’
The new reality dating show, streaming now, is executive produced by BU alum Alex “Call Her Daddy” Cooper.
Weston native Tim Demirjian was at a music fest last year when he got a random text from a random number.
“All it said was: ‘Do you want to be with hot, sexy singles on a yacht this summer?’ And my initial impression was “Yeah, that sounds great — but it also seems like spam,’” Demirjian, 30, told me in a recent phone interview.
But instead of deleting, he replied, “Who is this?”
It was a casting director. The offer was real. The show was Hulu’s new dating/reality show “Love Overboard,” executive produced by podcaster and Boston University alum Alex “Call Her Daddy” Cooper.
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And, apparently, the lesson here, kids: Sometimes that random text isn’t spam. It’s a life-changing moment.
Not only did Demirjian make it onto the show — he won, as part of the winning couple with Gia Aldisert, of Topanga, Calif. Soon, he tells me, they’ll claim their prize: a trip around the world.
On March 26, Hulu dropped all nine episodes of their new yacht-set dating reality show “Love Overboard” on Hulu and Disney+.
Produced by Cooper’s Unwell Productions and hosted by Gabby Windey, the premise: 16 “sexy singles” board a luxury yacht off the coast of Malta in the Mediterranean Sea. The goal? Find love.
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Those in couples live a life of luxury on the “topside” deck, while single contestants are sent “downside” to cook, clean, scrub, and serve. If they can break up a couple, they make their way above deck to the luxury quarters.
Think Bravo’s “Below Deck Med” if the crew was trying to hook up with the guests, in order to take their spot. Add to that competitions — like climbing walls — to shake up the Topside and Downside, after which contestants are sent to the plank and risk getting eliminated.
So “Below Deck Med” meets “Survivor” meets “Love Island.”
According to his show bio, Tim is a “Boston boy through and through, now living in Los Angeles … Tim is smart, sharp, and the definition of no-bull***t charm.”
Show pull-quote: “I’m a respectful f**kboy.”
I called Tim at his home in West Hollywood to talk Cape Cod, climbing walls, Celtics, Dunkin’, and onboard romance.
I know they call you “Tim from Boston” on the show, but where did you really grow up?
It’s always easier to say “from Boston” [when you’re traveling].
[laughs] Exactly.
I grew up in Weston basically my entire life. I went to Noble and Greenough in Dedham, graduated in 2014, then went to business school at Tulane. My family’s down on the Cape now. I try and make it back there at least a couple weeks during the summer.
So the big news: You and Gia won. Are you still together?
Obviously, a lot happened on the boat; a lot has happened since. She lives down the street from me here in L.A., and we’ve had a really amazing time together. But, you’ll have to follow along with life after the show to find out. But she’s really amazing. We had a really good time together.
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But the whole situation — I never had any intentions of doing reality TV. It just fell in my lap.
You told me you got a random text from a casting director at Stagecoach, a country music fest, last spring.
They said, “We’re super interested. We’d love to take a call with you.” I went back to the house to take the call, and 20 people were in the house. So I texted in the group text: “Hey, listen, nobody come in the garage for an hour. I’m on a really important call.”
Literally, the minute I got on the call, someone walked into the garage, and my Boston came out and I was like “Get the f— outta here! I told you not to come in here!” The casting director was like, “I love it. This is great already.” So it went really well.
[laughs] That’s awesome. Do you know how they found you? Or why you were picked?
To be honest with you, I don’t [laughs]. I have a decent social media following, so I’d assume through social media. I’m not quite sure how they got my number, though.
I was going to ask that. [laughs]
But listen, I’m glad they did. [laughs] This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
What were the highs and lows of the whole experience?
The highs were just being on a yacht in Malta for four weeks. Everyone from the cast was amazing, I met people who will be in my life forever — close friends, strong relationships.
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The lows: It’s a bit nerve-racking. You have to put yourself in some uncomfortable positions if you want to stay on the boat. With the competitions, there were a lot of heights involved. They had a climbing wall competition. They had the plank ceremony, where you’re standing 30 feet above the water. Heights are my number one fear. So having to deal with that on a consistent basis was difficult. [laughs]
Also when Gia was initially matched up with another guy [that was difficult]. Me and Gia had an initial conversation on the boat, there were sparks immediately. The conversation lasted for a couple hours. I was like, “I gotta go for it.” I put myself out there in a spot where there was a decent likelihood that I could get voted off. But I was like, “This is why we’re here.” We’re here to find a connection that could potentially last a lifetime.
The prize was a trip around the world for you and Gia. Have you taken that yet?
At the end of the show, they have a montage of photos of me and Gia, but that wasn’t the actual trip. We still have yet to take the trip around the world. But we plan on doing so very soon.
Had you been to the Mediterranean before?
A few times. I actually studied in Madrid in college, but I’d never been to Malta. My mom’s always wanted to go to Malta, so when I told her [about the chance] she was like, “Oh my God. You have to go.”
What were you doing at the time?
I was in a transition phase. I had a vodka seltzer company, Dezo, from about 2018 to mid-2024. I’d phased out of that. Then this opportunity came, and my parents were like, “Listen, not to put you down, but you don’t really have a lot going on right now.”
[laughs]
They said to lean into it, just go out there and be yourself. That it had the potential to open a lot of different doors. And actually, I only had a 48-hour notice from when they officially casted me to when I was leaving.
Wow.
They drove me to the airport, I had a 14-hour flight to Turkey. I just hugged them and said: “Well, I guess this is it. See you guys in a month.” My mom was like, “Just be yourself. Lean into it. And bring back the win.” And I brought back the win.
They must have freaked out when you won.
It was insane. Once me and Gia established that we felt strongly about each other, we thought: We have a good opportunity at winning this whole thing. But at the same time, we didn’t even care about winning. We thought: We found each other. Even if we got sent home, this is why we came here: to find somebody we connect with.
At the final plank ceremony, it was the final three couples. [One contestant] went overboard. Then the other. It was just me standing on that plank — it was euphoric. It felt surreal.
The show says you were hand-picked by Alex Cooper. Did you meet her?
I didn’t. I still haven’t met her, but she’s been great. Unwell, as a production company in general, has been amazing.
What are you doing next? You said you don’t have the seltzer company.
I’m just enjoying everything that’s coming from the show, the opportunities that are starting to arise. It’s opening doors, which I’m excited about. The overarching goal is to figure out the best way to blend business acumen with everything that comes from the show.
Would you do another reality show?
Definitely. I don’t know if I’d do another reality dating show [laughs], but for sure, I’m open to other reality TV shows.
You mentioned the Celtics. Are you a Sox fan, Patriots fan? Do you still have Boston allegiances out in LA?
Celtics and Pats are my two teams for sure. I’m a diehard Celtics fan, though. Basketball has been my life since before I can remember.
Still drink Dunkin’ in LA?
I try to. There’s not a lot of Dunkins near me, but whenever I find one, absolutely. Dunkin’ over Starbucks, 10 times out of 10.
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Lauren Daley is a freelance culture writer. She can be reached at [email protected]. She tweets @laurendaley1, and Instagrams at @laurendaley1. Read more stories on Facebook here.
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