Captain Sandy Was Feeling the Love at WorldPride Because Of Course She Was

Captain Sandy Yawn was one of the many Bravolebs who shimmied and shone at WorldPride on June 30. It was her first time attending Pride and riding on a float and, as you may imagine, the experience was unforgettable.

“It was beyond my wildest imagination,” the Below Deck Mediterranean boss told Personal Space. “I just wanted to show up for people, be present, and make sure that I brought my best self.”

Naturally, the Bravo float was quite the hit at the NYC march, and Sandy was surprised how many people wanted to catch her attention in particular. “That blew me away,” she revealed. "They’re all great people and personalities but our show, I gotta tell ya, people love it."

Guilty as charged. From that bizarre steak-licking scene to the soon-to-be iconic “Good Mawnin’” music video, there’s never a dull moment.

And, as far as the Bravolebs she connected with while cruisin’, she did diplomatically reveal: “I love them all.” However, she was especially impressed by Gizelle Bryant. “I didn’t know her and I loved her... She was just so gracious. So, I went and watched her show. I was like, 'Wow she’s so cool.'”

We're pretty sure Sandy's girlfriend Leah Shafer — a huge Real Housewives fan herself — was more than happy to join her for that viewing.

It was, in fact, that same Bravo obsession that brought the two together.

“She’s a Housewives junkie. But she never watches Below Deck. Ever. She was waiting for her favorite show to come on which wasn’t mine, and then she landed on the show where I’m yelling at Hannah.... She goes, ‘I’ve gotta meet this person,'" she explained.

So, Leah wrote Sandy a message on Facebook and Sandy soon realized Leah was a singer and a very good one at that.

“I reached out to Leah and we met. I met my soul mate. You have soul crossings in your life? This woman is definitely my soul mate. It’s not about sex. It’s not about gender. It’s not about race, creed, color, politics. It is a human being with a soul that I connected with ... She’s got a great soul. She makes me want to be a better human being."

Ultimately it was that love they now share that made Leah give the OK for Captain Sandy to publicly confirm their relationship. “The Cheat Sheet would always reach out to me," Sandy shared. "People would see my Instagram and it’s really not hard to understand, and [they] said, ‘Can I do an article on your new relationship?’ I went, ‘Oh, wow, no.’ I’m going to talk to this person first because she comes from the gospel world and she has a daughter and a family and she wanted to make sure they were OK. Then at one point she goes, ‘You know what? I love you. Go ahead.’ Boom! I had no idea people cared.”

Sandy also has fitting advice to help a long-distance relationship go the distance — and it's something she plans to do the next time she sails off on a charter. “Back in the day, we didn’t have FaceTime. Use that. Use your FaceTime. Do it daily. That’s what I’m going to do. Before I never had that, and it was very expensive phone calls. Now it’s not. That’s my advice.”

We’re guessing those future FaceTime calls will definitely also include a song or two.