All the fights and drama within Bravo's Below Deck franchise is part and parcel why fans love it so much. But it's not exactly fun for the crew, who are being filmed 24/7 as they live in cramped quarters and deal with various personalities – both upstairs and downstairs. On Below Deck Mediterranean’s sixth season, which is currently airing, the main issue has been Lexi Wilson's feuds with the crew, which ultimately led to her firing by Captain Sandy. But the captain is getting frank these days about Wilson and the rest of the crew’s actions, and her thoughts are a little surprising.
Captain Sandy Yawn faced a lot of criticism from fans after the debut of the episode that showed her firing stewardess Lexi Wilson. Partly, the decision was believed to be too little, too late, as there were only two charters left in the season. But additionally, it seemed as though the captain didn't really want to fire Wilson in that moment, despite all the hurt and issues she caused. But on that account, Yawn is settling the score. She said to Us Weekly,
Of course, I wanted to let her go. I never would have hired her. I don’t hire the crew. Everybody knows that. [While] I feel for her, I would never tolerate that. I don’t see it until you see it. I don’t go to dinner and unless the crew really lays it out for me, the words ‘it’s bad’, is that [really] a description?
Now obviously, Captain Sandy can't be blamed entirely for the way she came across while firing Lexi Wilson, if she didn't have the full context. And true to what she says, “bad” doesn't fully encompass what transpired between Wilson and the crew in Season 6 of Below Deck Mediterranean. During the now infamous hot tub blow-up, Wilson got physical with Lloyd Spencer and Mzi Dempers and yelled obscenities at everyone else, to include crew members who technically outranked her on the boat. The second confrontation saw Wilson use derogatory language and even insinuate that chef Mathew Shea should've been aborted by his parents.
Many of Lexi Wilson's co-stars at the time, and even since then, have sympathized with her position. There was a lot of alcohol involved during the crew nights off, Wilson’s father had passed away months prior, and Mathew Shea did in fact like to push her buttons. But some of the behavior was, in truth, inexcusable and Captain Sandy expressed that it's on the crew for not communicating that to her sooner. She said:
No one was giving me facts. You know, like, I didn’t have any facts. I just heard it’s bad. It’s real bad. That’s not [enough for me]. Write it out. Write a report, send it to me. They learn the minute they step on this boat, we go through all the legalities. But I never got that information, if they would’ve told me the facts, of course, I would’ve let her go sooner, but I never got them.
The implication here is that Captain Sandy thinks the crew should have said more than what they did. Which is interesting, because bosun Malia White and chief stew Katie Flood did go to the captain after it initially happened. Flood was visibly very uncomfortable with the situation, yet Captain Sandy told her that she needed to “invest” in Wilson. It seems odd that the captain – who is notorious for firing Hannah Ferrier with the quickness last year and yelling at Malia White this season for simply not telling her about David Pascoe's bruise – didn't ask more questions about Wilson immediately after she was told, if that was indeed the case.
At this point, it is still unclear if Lexi Wilson will join the crew at the Below Deck Mediterranean Season 6 reunion. Judging by her recent comments, though, she seems to have a lot to say.
Catch the final episodes of Below Deck Mediterranean's sixth season on Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo.
