Below Deck star Captain Sandy Yawn considered firing chief stew Fraser Olender and regrets calling him ‘cancer’
Below Deck star Captain Sandy Yawn has revealed that she considered firing Fraser Olender over his issues as chief stew.
The 57-year-old normally steers the Mediterranean spin-off of the Bravo program but briefly replaced Captain Lee Rosbach on board as he recuperated after an operation.
It didn’t take long for her to ruffle feathers within the cast, and fired stewardesses Camille Lamb and Alissa Humber during her time in the wheelhouse.
She also called Fraser a ‘cancer’ in shocking scenes, leading to widespread backlash from viewers.
In a new interview, Captain Sandy revealed her regrets over her choice of phrase, but stands by some of her judgements regarding his skills.
When asked if she was tempted to sack him over how he dealt with the stews, she said: ‘There was a moment. Absolutely. Because listen the walls are thin. Don’t jump on their bandwagon. Change that narrative. That’s your role, you’re a superior here.’
Discussing what went wrong in their working relationship, she said: ‘We all need humility in our roles. Humility isn’t being humiliated. It’s just being humble.
‘Fraser, on the bridge, admitted to me that he had never done this before. When you’re in that position, I always have an open-door bridge policy. I’ve had many chief stews in my careers. I would’ve helped him and guided him and tried to say, “Hey, delegate and let them make mistakes.”’
Addressing the backlash, she added to Us Weekly: ‘I had cancer. I will say this, yes I should have chosen different words. I’ve been a captain for many years, those were the terms we used. So evolving, I would’ve probably said, “You’re bringing the boat down”I would change my terminology for sure. Bad choice of words.’
In recent episodes, things came to a head between Captain Sandy and the interior team – who pointed out her favoritism for the deck crew.
Shortly after, the Bravo star took aim at Fraser’s leadership skills in front of his castmates, questioning why they were ‘standing around’ while others were busy working.
‘There’s three of you standing around,’ she fumed. ‘The deck crew is doing all this work for the interior. It’s not fair to them.
‘Here’s the thing, there’s three of you and the deck crew are busting their ass, taking all the garbage out for you guys constantly…’
As he attempted to defend his team, Captain Sandy warned: ‘Fraser, now is not the time to talk to me,’ before snapping at him to ‘stop talking’ when he continued.
First appear at Below Deck star Captain Sandy Yawn considered firing chief stew Fraser Olender and regrets calling him ‘cancer’
