Former Below Deck Med star Joao Franco claims that Captain Sandy Yawn slammed him at Bravo Con after getting him a captain position.
Joao started out the show as a deckhand and was promoted to a lead deckhand the following season.
Joao left the show after Captain Sandy got him a job as a captain on another ship.
However, Joao says that he and Sandy have grown distant since his promotion. Joao reveals that one of the main reasons he has a hard time trusting Captain Sandy is that she put him down at Bravo Con.
He details this moment during Wednesday’s episode of the Behind the Velvet Rope podcast.
Sandy says Joao still has a long way to go as a captain
Joao details the time that he announced his promotion at Bravo Con.
“So I think a big thing was at the Bravo Con when everyone cheered me for being a captain. She definitely helped me in that and she got me to that point,” he explains.
He then says how he believes Captain Sandy undercut his big moment.
“I had mentioned that I was not at the status level of Captain Lee, as far as qualifications, or Captain Sandy. I’ve still got now maybe a year and a half to be able to become a captain of the show, for example,” he continues.
“And I think when I said that…she’s very open. She speaks her mind straight away, so she says something about, ‘Yes, but it’s not about you having your qualifications…You need experience. You need to get on the water. You’re not even close.’ And I thought, ‘OK, just let me enjoy my moment with everyone. Let me enjoy my moment.'”
He goes on to say that he just about all of his qualifications to charter a yacht like the ones on Below Deck with no experience. Once he gets experiences, he says fans can possibly expect to see him as a captain on Below Deck.
Joao says he thinks Captain Sandy got him the job to make herself look better
Joao also wonders about Captain Sandy’s motivation behind getting him a captain job.
While he acknowledges that it was a big boost to his career, he also thinks it boosted her career, and that may have been the reason she helped him out.
“Well, it’s because, by helping me, she shows that she cares. She shows that she’s a caring captain and she’s a mentor and she wants someone else’s career to grow, which is very true. And by showing that, she gets a lot of recognition and so she gets a lot of affection per se…compassion from people outside of the industry to say, ‘She’s doing a great job.’ She’s helping people, and I know that she does. But it will always be a question as to why.”
After Sandy called him out at Bravo Con and he started questioning her motives, it’s safe to say that Joao and Captain Sandy are not in the best place.
Below Deck Sailing Yacht airs on Mondays at 8/7c on Bravo.