Below Deck’s Isabelle “Izzy” Wouters called Captain Sandy Yawn and Malia White a “poor display of women in leadership” during a recent interview.
Izzy stopped by the Behind the Velvet Rope with David Yontef podcast to dish all things Below Deck.
The New Zealand beauty didn’t hold back expressing her true feelings on Below Deck Mediterranean Season 5. She even admitted if the season had aired before she applied for Below Deck, Izzy would never have wanted to be on the Bravo show.
Hannah’s firing
The hot topic of Below Deck Mediterranean Season 5 was the firing of chief stew Hannah Ferrier. Izzy shared her thoughts on the way Captain Sandy and Malia handled the situation.
“It was, Oh my God. I felt so bad for Hannah. So bad for Hannah. She did not deserve to be treated that way,” Izzy said. “I think it was handled very poorly.”
Like many fans, Izzy feels Captain Sandy’s favoritism for Malia and dislike of Hannah played a pivotal part in the firing. The deckhand spilled that it was easy to see the captain had a “bone to pick” with Hannah. Thanks to Malia, Captain Sandy finally found a reason to get rid of the former chief stew.
The stigmatism that Captain Sandy and Malia put on mental health was also an issue for Izzy because she has suffered from anxiety and panic attacks. Izzy knows the situation could have been handled so much better.
“If it were Captain Lee or Eddie Lucas or anyone like that, it would have been handled so differently and respectfully,” Izzy stated. “So yeah, I think that was just like a really poor display of women in leadership.”
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Disappointment in Below Deck Med
There was plenty of blame to go around when it comes to mean girl behavior, mainly where Hannah was concerned.
“Sandy ultimately is the one in charge. So, I mean, it comes to her to like, to be the professional and to handle it in that manner,” Izzy stated.
However, Malia has been in the yachting industry enough to know many situations last season could have been dealt with differently. There isn’t anything wrong with a little compassion and empathy to help build women up instead of tearing them down.
“I think it was just a very, very poor display of women in leadership, which is really disappointing because I was so excited for that season when I saw that that was a female captain, female bosun, and female chief stew,” Izzy expressed.
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The deckhand also admitted watching Below Deck Med Season 5 was traumatic. Captain Sandy Yawn and Malia White’s bad leadership would have for sure scared Izzy Wouters from applying to the Bravo show.
Luckily for fans, Izzy watched the season after she already filmed Season 8 of Below Deck. She has been killing it as a deckhand giving fans a new female role model to watch.
Below Deck airs Mondays at 9/8c on Bravo.