‘Below Deck’: Captain Sandy Taking Over for Captain Lee ‘Crushed His Ego,’ Aesha Scott Says
Below Deck Down Under chief stew Aesha Scott, who worked for Captain Sandy Yawn in the past, thinks having her take over for Captain Lee Rosbach on Below Deck probably embarrassed him.
Scott, who was second stew on Below Deck Mediterranean before becoming chief stew on Below Deck Down Under, recently said that Rosbach shouldn’t have embarked upon the season knowing he was injured. But the fact that he did and Yawn had to step in had to be crushing.
Captain Sandy replacing Captain Lee on ‘Below Deck’ was an ‘epic twist’
Scott said having Yawn step in for Rosbach was an “epic twist.” And she felt for Rosbach when he had to temporarily depart during the season. “Because I was like, this will kill him,” she said on the Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef podcast. “Like I think he’s such an old-school salty sea dog kind of thing.”
“I think the fact that a younger woman captain is coming in to take over, I just feel like that would’ve crushed his ego,” she continued. “And I knew that walking off there, he would’ve been swearing under his breath. And I feel like that would really affect him.”
Rosbach complained on social media about how Yawn called him after she fired deck/stew Camille Lamb, tweeting that she should have alerted him beforehand.
Captain Lee shouldn’t have attempted ‘Below Deck’ Season 10
At the same time, Scott didn’t think Rosbach should have even attempted to captain the season in the first place.
“I feel like he shouldn’t have even started to come back for this season anyway because he does have a lot of trouble walking,” she said. “He is getting old. And I just think it’s always better to kind of leave on a high than trying to keep clawing on. And now he’s had to leave in this way that would probably be quite embarrassing to him.”
“I mean the trouble that he is having walking, it’s not a quick fix,” she remarked. “Obviously I really hope that he has a full recovery but it’s not a quick fix.” She added, “Anything could happen. I feel like he’s kind of had his time now. He’s done a really good job.”
She pointed out that Rosbach’s injury could have compromised the safety of the crew. “I think from a safety point of view, he should never have come in because what if something happens and you can barely walk out of your cabin,” she said. “You are supposed to be the captain who’s the head of safety.”
Does Captain Lee return to ‘Below Deck’ Season 10?
Scott knew that having to leave the season early, even temporarily had to be a blow to Rosbach. “And he’s had to leave in a way, it’s not the ideal way to leave,” she said. “I mean you’ve got 20/20 vision with hindsight, don’t you? I think ideally, he would’ve been better off not attempting this season, but that was his decision.”
She thinks Rosbach was “probably gutted” when he learned Yawn would have to take over. “I would guess that he is not happy about it,” she said. “But I really like Lee. I think he’s a great guy but he did put himself in a situation where he would’ve known that he wasn’t physically in a good place to do the season. So he kind of did it to himself and he has to take whatever comes with it.”
In an upcoming preview of Below Deck, Rosbach is seen returning to the boat to finish out the season. Below Deck is on Monday at 8 pm ET on Bravo.
