Captain Sandy Yawn from Bravo’s “Below Deck Mediterranean” is in a new relationship with gospel singer Leah Shafer, according to the stars’ social media and a recent interview with Fox News.
The couple met over Facebook last October after Shafer sent Yawn a message. According to Yawn, she was drawn to the singer’s spirit and felt their connection was a “magical moment.”
“She’s aesthetically beautiful, but, as many people know, you can have very handsome [men] and beautiful women, but they may be not so beautiful on the inside, and it was that part of her [that I was drawn to],” Sandy Yawn told Fox News. “Her soul. Her spirit. Her gentleness. Her kindness. She’s the first person I ever met in my life who does not swear. Not one swear word.”
Speaking to The Daily Dish last June, Yawn insisted that it’s difficult for her to maintain a relationship because of her career. Now, however, she says that she focuses a lot of time and energy on her girlfriend, telling Fox News that Shafer is “my goal for the rest of my life.”
“I mean I’m 54,” Sandy Yawn told the news site. “I’ve lived a long life that’s really great. I’m still very young in my spirit. And you know Leah has come into my life. It was a magical connection. It wasn’t something that was pursued and I feel so lucky.”
While Yawn is familiar with lesbian relationships, she notes that it’s a “big change” for Shafer, who was previously married to Ross Shafer, with whom she has a 13-year-old daughter.
The Cheat Sheet reported in May that, since the couple had gone public with their relationship, “some religious institutions have turned their back” on Shafer. In response, Shafer told the news site, “I think you can’t help who you fall in love with.”
For Sandy Yawn, it’s hard to sit back and watch her girlfriend not be accepted by the gospel community that she was once such a big part of.
“It’s brutal,” Yawn said to Fox News. “They are tearing her apart, the gospel world. … So, I said Bravo taught us to: ‘Block. Buh-bye.’ And you just shake those people off, and you focus on the people who are positive, but, somehow the human mind always goes to the negative and it’s so hard. At some point, you just block those people.”
