Is Captain Sandy Yawn’s criticism of Fraser Olender on Below Deck coming from a personal place? He seems to think so, and recently teased that the upcoming episode is telling.
Olender is struggling to lead his interior team and it isn’t only Yawn who sees it. Chef Rachel Hargrove also observed how frazzled Olender seems during service. But Olender’s tension with Yawn isn’t limited to service. Olender and Yawn clashed when he stepped in during a conversation between Yawn and deck stew Camille Lamb. She reprimanded him for butting in and it seemingly sparked a pattern between the chief stew and captain.
Captain Sandy ‘hates’ Fraser Olender on ‘Below Deck’?
Olender teased that tension with Yawn increases in the coming episode. A fan tweeted it appears that Yawn “might hate” Olender. He replied, “No you’re spot on, wait until next episode.” Adding, “I appreciate you all, you have no idea!!”
Being criticized is never fun. But even Olender admitted he was being too soft on his team. He was also MIA during Alissa Humber and Lamb’s explosive fight in front of the guests. “I had a lot going on, and I didn’t see their issues, their childish behavior of not getting along,” he said on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. Instead of managing the team, Olender is often seen doing the work himself, which seems to be what Yawn wants him to change.
“I think all of these things are a learning curve,” he reflected. He added about Yawn’s criticism, “And I needed her to sort of kick me up the booty and tell me that I need to stop being such a nice guy and get the job done.”
But Captain Sandy said Fraser is actually ‘great’
Although Olender seems to be taking Yawn’s Below Deck criticism personally, Yawn made positive remarks about him. “In my opinion, I think Fraser has a lot to learn on how to separate friendship and leadership,” she told E! News. “He’s great. It’s his first time as Chief Stew, he’s admitted that.”
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Yawn thinks Olender is still learning how to lead. “The leader has to really weave between the personalities and have this fine line in the sand,” she said. “You can’t cross friendship and leadership and that’s hard.”
Adding, “You don’t learn that in one season—you probably don’t learn that in your second season as chief—but you do learn it over time.”
What is Captain Sandy’s advice for Fraser as a ‘Below Deck’ chief stew?
Yawn observed that instead of stepping back and shutting down conflict within his team, Olender got in the middle of it. “Fraser was joining the gossip,” she said, referring to the mid-season trailer. “When you lead a team, you have to shut it down. It becomes the cancer of the boat. It starts permeating for the boat and it takes the morale down and if you’re not happy with your captain, well, that’s something you need to work through.”
“Fraser wants to do a good job, he wants to be perfect, he wants to please everyone,” she added. “He’s doing his very best. Again, this is his first season as Chief Stew ever in his life. He’s figuring it out. I don’t take it personal, but what I had to do was shut it down. You will never gain the respect of your peers if there’s no fine line. People need to be led.”
