Whitney Rose, Captain Jason Chambers and Heather Gay. Bryan Schnitzer/Bravo Logo text Who knew Salt Lake City and Down Under would make for the perfect television crossover? For the first time in Real Housewives history, the women of Salt Lake City merged with the crew of Below Deck Down Under for a highly anticipated three-episode crossover event. To intersect the casts, Bravo's cameras filmed both shows at the same time for two separate episodes that will play out on both The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and Below Deck Down Under. Housewives have graced the decks of the yachting franchise in the past, but never has a full cast chartered their own superyacht - and had their trip documented for both franchises. It's a moment that was years in the making for Bravo, one Noah Samton says couldn't have hold off any longer. Related Stories TV 'Vanderpump Rules' Reveals All-New Cast for Season 12 Reboot TV Comcast Chief Says It, When NBCUniversal Won't Yet: Taylor Sheridan Is a Huge Deal "This is something we discussed at Bravo for many years," the svp of unscripted production for NBCUniversal (who was on deck for filming) tells The Hollywood Reporter of the Real Housewives-Below Deck crossover. "It felt like, finally, okay, we can't wait anymore. We got to make this happen." And make it happen Bravo did, but not without a myriad of bumps in the road. One of the greatest obstacles they ran into was the capacity of people allowed on the boat. Because two separate shows were being filmed at the same time, Samton says members of each production crew had to take turns being on deck. "There are very specific specifications of how many people can be on that boat, so we cannot have a full crew for both shows. That was a constant issue from the very beginning of when we first started discussing the idea to film. It was the biggest challenge," he says. "And it's actually what stopped us from doing it previous years with other Housewives or other Below Decks." Ultimately, they acquired "a special dispensation" from the flag state that regulates the boat that allowed more people to be on board, but that didn't stop a constant filter of crew members. "Every minute of the charter, it was like, 'Who's getting on? Who's getting off? Can we borrow your cameraman here?'" Samton adds. The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and Below Deck Down Under crossover. Bryan Schnitzer/Bravo Another challenge that arose with limited staffing was a limited number of supplies, which forced The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City and Below Deck Down Under production teams to "share resources," including the camera crew. "At one point, I told the Below Deck team, 'If you have to have the surveillance cameras cover something happening in the galley or in one of the cabins, just let it play there. Don't worry. Let the big cameras go with the housewives for now,'" he reveals. For Samton, it was "very important" all events covered in the Salt Lake City cut would be later depicted on Down Under. There were discussions about which moments from the episodes to keep in the show that served both stories, including a beach picnic scene from the second episode of the Real Housewives point-of-view. "The Below Deck team said, 'Nothing really happens for us on this, we want to cut it out of the show.' But the Salt Lake City team said, 'No, we really need it. Mary [Cosby] calls Meredith [Merks] boring. Can we keep it in the show?'" he explains. "So I had the two different production companies arguing their case. Ultimately, the Below Deck team agreed to put a version of it into their episode so it felt to viewers like they're seeing the same story, but from two different sides." In a few months, viewers will gain access to "a lot of fun little juicy tidbits" that arose from the crew's perspective of working for the ladies of Salt Lake City - including "if the Housewives are good tippers or not." In fact, Samton "found the Down Under episodes even more exciting" because of the added shock value of the yachties "having to deal with the complete mayhem of the housewives. [It] was just endlessly fascinating." One behind-the-scenes moment that stands out to Samton arose amid Lisa Barlow and Heather Gay's blowout argument at the tailend of Salt Lake City's seventh episode. After their fight, the former housewife stormed off and sought refuge on a swim platform at the back of the superyacht. That moment, though, occurred at the exact same time the crew working on the series was supposed to clock off for the night. And how do the camera crew, producers and showrunners exit the yacht? Via that swim platform that Barlow had a meltdown on, of course. "We're getting ready to get off [for the night,] and Lisa and Heather have a big fight. Lisa gets very upset. She's completely distraught, and she goes on the floating dock, which is our exit to to get off the boat. And we cannot leave," Samton recalls. "There's this shuttle boat, and it's circling the yacht like an airpla