Credit: Bravo
Below Deck Mediterranean star Malia White admits it was awkward seeing Captain Sandy Yawn for the first time after her boss questioned her sexuality as she also reveals whether Sandy offered a sincere apology.
In a recent interview, Malia was asked about that infamous Cameo video of Sandy calling her “secretly gay,”and as it turns out, the video was leaked at the worst possible time.
“To be fair, that comment was made the night before we started filming [season six]. So I kind of had to just get on the boat and put a big smile on,” Malia told Us Weekly on July 30. “I think with Captain Sandy, the thing that I know to be true is she never means harm. She never means disrespect or she never means for it to be hurtful.”
If fans recall from the Cameo, Sandy randomly brought up Malia’s sexuality before stating she’s not the only person who has questioned whether the bosun is gay.
“Malia…I think she’s secretly gay, to be honest. That’s my opinion. Everybody in production thinks that,” she laughed in the September 2020 video before covering her mouth at the obvious slip-up. “Oh! That’s gonna be public isn’t it! Okay, so maybe…who knows!”
Once the video went viral, Sandy took to Instagram to apologize to Malia, but she also claimed the clip was edited.
“I was wrong for making that comment, that clip was taken out of context,” she wrote in her Instagram Story at the time. “That clip was taken out of context, it was sliced to make it into something it was not. My apologies to Malia!”
Soon after, Malia denied being a lesbian while also addressing the controversy on Instagram.
“Captain Sandy’s Cameo…I was just as shocked as everyone else. I’m not sure why my sexual orientation is being discussed in Cameos,” Malia quipped. “First off, if I was gay, I would just like to say it should be my decision when and if to out it to the entire internet. But no I’m not [gay], and if I was, I would be openly proud to be gay. I’m a huge supporter of the community and…yeah, I’ll just leave it at that.”
As for how Malia feels about the ordeal now, the 31-year-old said she doesn’t believe Sandy truly understood how the remark could have affected her, but it’s all water under the bridge at this point.
“I think when that kind of hit the fan, she was kinda like, ‘Well, I was just kidding,’ and she didn’t realize the consequences it would have for me and with my family and friends,” she explained. “So she did apologize, and I was like, ‘It’s not a big deal.’ It just was not something I needed.”
Below Deck Mediterranean season six airs Monday nights on Bravo at 9/8.