In the choppy waters of reality TV, not all captains sail smoothly.
After Captain Lee Rosbach dubbed fellow Below Deck costar Captain Sandy Yawn his “least favorite” during his NightCap tour earlier this month, Yawn, 55, stayed quiet on the matter — until now.
Captain Sandy Yawn visits SiriusXM at SiriusXM Studios on January 12, 2023 in New York City. Fast forward to October 2024, Yawn addresses fellow ‘Below Deck’ costar Captain Lee’s remark, dubbing Yawn as his “least favorite.”
Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
“I don’t know what to say,” she told Us Weekly at the Hayu FanFest in London on Saturday, October 26. “I don’t know what I did.” Still, she made it clear she has no hard feelings, adding, “I wish him well.”
On Wednesday, October 9, Rosbach, 74, surprised fans with his blunt admission during a Q&A session on his tour. “My least favorite? Captain Sandy,” he declared to an outburst of gasps from the audience.
He continued, “And we all know why. I don’t like her. Normally I don’t have to like people to work with them, I can work with almost anyone. I don’t have to like them. But if they do their job, key word, do your job. Do it properly and I can put up with almost anything. Don’t do your job, and then pretend to be something you’re not? Nah, I’m not there. So, you guys want the truth? You got it.”
This tension traces back to season 10 of Below Deck, when Yawn stepped in for Rosbach as he recovered from back surgery. Yawn’s decision to fire crew member Camille Lamb without informing Rosbach stirred the pot, prompting Rosbach to take to social media with his frustration.
“I would have fired her. but prior to that I would have notified the Captain who I was [replacing] what I was doing and why, not after the fact,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter) after Yawn sent Lamb, 25, packing on the January 23 episode in 2023.
I would have fired her. but prior to that I would have notified the Captain who I was repalacing what I was doing and why, not after the fact. https://t.co/idp8BDU77o
— Captain Lee (@capthlr) January 24, 2023
Following Rosbach’s upset, Yawn defended her choice during an appearance on SiriusXM’s Reality Checked. “He’s in the hospital. Who’s gonna call and say, ‘Can I fire Camille?’ Never in a million years would I do that,” she explained. “But what I did was give him a courtesy call saying, ‘By the way, I did fire her. You almost had a mutiny on your boat because of her.'”
