Below Deck Mediterranean‘s Aesha Scott was excited to work with Captain Sandy Yawn again — but their reunion came with some anxiety as well.
“Oh my gosh, it was so special. It was very nerve wracking just because I put so much pressure on myself to impress her,” Aesha revealed exclusively to Us Weekly. “Because I worked with her as a second stew then I went away.”
Aesha recalled how she wanted to prove herself to her boss.
“I felt like I grew into a woman. And as I said on the first episode [of season 9], it felt like I was coming home,” she noted. “I just respect her so, so much. I put a lot of pressure on myself — but I am really proud of what I did and I feel like I did a good job.”
The New Zealand native joined Below Deck Med during season 4 in 2019 and worked as a second stew under Hannah Ferrier’s reign. She became the chief stew alongside Captain Jason Chambers on Below Deck Down Under for the first two seasons of the spinoff from 2022 to 2023 before returning to her Below Deck Med roots as the chief stew during season 9, which premiered earlier this month.
After working with Sandy again, Aesha found their friendship evolving even more.
“It did [grow] in such a beautiful way. When I first worked for her as a second stew, it was very much like a captain and stew relationship. Then after the show when she got together with [her now-wife] Leah [Shafer], who was based in Denver and we were in Breckenridge, we ended up seeing them more as friends,” Aesha, who is currently engaged to Scott “Scotty” Dobson, told Us of their close proximity in Colorado. “Because we’d go up and have dinner and hang out and then coming back to work for her, it was just this very beautiful friendship.”
Aesha praised Sandy for how she “really supported” her, adding, “She let me do my thing. We were very professional together. But there were these moments where I’d sneak into the bridge and I’d show her a meme or something. I love that we have a little giggle and we just kind of grew this bond where we really relied on each other a lot.”
According to Aesha, Sandy even subtly helped the interior out, which the team wasn’t aware of initially.
“I know when we’d walk down the stairs, she was just at one of the cupboards putting provisions away,” she shared. “But she wouldn’t even go around saying that she’s doing that if we didn’t catch her.”
Aesha went on to explain how working with Sandy compared to working with Jason.
“I thought that it was going to be very different but it was actually very similar. Because Jason and I obviously built up this kind of sibling relationship [where we are] making fun of each other,” she detailed. “I did think that Sandy and I might be a little bit more professional, and obviously we were professional. But the same thing happened with her over the season as we did become siblings. Or maybe a young mom and her older daughter. We also developed this really lovely banter and playful relationship. I feel so grateful that I’ve gotten to experience that with two different captains.”
Earlier this month, Jason shared his thoughts on Aesha rejoining Below Deck Med when he commented via Instagram that he was “put off a little.” Aesha, however, confirmed that everything was “totally good” between everyone in the Below Deck franchise.
“It’s understandable. If the roles were reversed, I probably would be a little bit bummed out too. But I think it’s just one of those situations where I got offered [the opportunity] and I’m not going to turn it down and he wouldn’t turn it down either,” she said. “And we know that. So it is not personal, it’s just business. My heart is in the Med. I would never turn down the chance to go back. He understands.”
Below Deck Mediterranean season 9 airs on Bravo Mondays at 9 p.m. ET. New episodes stream the next day on Peacock.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
