EXCLUSIVE: Below Deck’s Captain Sandy addresses rift with Captain Lee: ‘I’m sorry’
Captain Sandy expressed her wish to repair their friendship following his public criticism.
Captain Sandy Yawn has addressed her ongoing fallout with Captain Lee Rosbach after he publicly declared her his “least favorite” member of the Below Deck franchise.
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Last year, viewers witnessed Lee’s struggles with mobility following back surgery, which ultimately led him to step away from the Bravo series to focus on his health.
During this time, Captain Sandy was brought in to take over the superyacht St David, marking the first captain crossover in the show’s history.
However, their working relationship soured when the 74-year-old criticised Captain Sandy for not informing him about the firing of stew Camille Lamb on season 10, which aired in January 2023.
In response to his upset, Sandy said she didn’t want to burden Lee during his health struggles, telling Us Weekly in February 2023: “He’s in the hospital. Who’s gonna call and say, ‘Can I fire Camille?’ Never in a million years would I do that.”
However a year on, the rift deepened further when Sandy didn’t invite him to her wedding with longtime partner Leah Shafer in May.
Following the wedding, Lee told The Standard in August that there was no chance of them mending their friendship, remarking: “You’d probably have a better chance of seeing God twice in the next 30 seconds than that happening.”
Then earlier this month, during his Nightcap tour in the UK, he named Sandy as his least favorite cast member. In a now viral TikTok, he said during an audience Q&A: “My least favourite? Captain Sandy. And we all know why.”
After the crowd gasped and pushed him to explain, the Deadly Waters presenter responded: “I don’t like her. I can work with almost anyone, but if they don’t do their job and pretend to be something they’re not, that’s an issue.”
In response to the fallout, Captain Sandy expressed a desire to mend their friendship and apologised to him while attending the inaugural HayuFanFest at Magazine London.
When asked by The Standard where their relationships stands, she told The Standard: “I don’t know. It’s sad.
“I’m sorry, Captain Lee, for however I offended you. I don’t know, I wish him well.”
Her comments come as she shared her joy about reuniting with chief steward Aesha Scott and revealed why there wasn’t a Below Deck Med reunion.
Despite fans’ excitement over seeing Sandy and Aesha together again, some were disappointed by the lack of a reunion for the rest of the season nine crew.
Yawn told The Standard it was likely due to crew logistics: “The crew are scattered all over the planet like and they’re all boats and jobs, and it’s hard to gather them all together. It is really difficult.
“So I can imagine why they stopped doing it. That would be that’s my assumption is that they’re everywhere. It isn’t like the housewives that live in New York, it’s very different.”
