Malia White revealed she was meant to officiate her former Below Deck Mediterranean costar Captain Sandy Yawn‘s wedding but that plan has since fallen through.
“I was supposed to officiate it until someone stole my spot,” Malia, 33, quipped during an exclusive interview with Us Weekly on Monday, November 20, while promoting season 3 of Winter House with Katie Flood.
Despite the change, Malia will still be showing her support for Sandy, 58, and Leah Shafer. “[I’m] definitely going to the wedding. Captain Sandy’s always been a mentor and she continues to be and Leah is amazing,” she said. “We see them quite often, actually.”
Below Deck fans have seen Malia and Sandy’s friendship grow on screen since 2017. During the second season, Sandy helped Malia grow as a deckhand and they remained on good terms. Malia returned three seasons later as a bosun and continued to work with Sandy until 2021.
The captain praised Malia’s leadership skills at the time, telling Us in June 2021, “She will make a great captain and I’m proud of her. I don’t care what anyone says about her, she is on a career path and she’s focused.”
Sandy, who got engaged to Leah earlier this year after five years of dating, later opened up about how she has stayed in touch with Malia outside of Below Deck.
“It’s always good to see her. I’m so proud of her,” she gushed to Us in 2022. “I thought she would be a great captain [since season 2] because she can address an issue head on without anger and diffuse it. I witnessed her diffuse conversations and that’s why Malia is going to make a great leader.”
Since her time on Below Deck, Malia returned to Bravo for Winter House alongside her former costar Katie, 31. The first officer hinted to Us that she would be open to more reality TV opportunities in the future.
“I’m always down for more Below Deck in the future. I’m an officer now though. And Katie and I work on the same boat and we work on rotation, so it’d have to be a pretty sweet deal,” she added on Monday. “We love our actual job and we’re together for that too. But I think if they’re ready for the first female officer [on the show], then I’m ready.”
Malia also shared which other Below Deck Med costars she is close to. “I’m actually having Thanksgiving dinner with [Mzi “Zee” Dempers] and Lloyd [Spencer]. Actually, all of us from season 6 are still very close except for Lexi [Wilson].”
Winter House airs on Bravo Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
