“Below Deck Mediterranean” star Captain Sandy is engaged to his longtime partner, Leah Shafer.
“Below Deck Mediterranean” star Captain Sandy Yawn and his partner, Leah Shafer, are taking their relationship to the next level.
Yawn, 58, revealed to E! News Monday that she popped the question last weekend after five years of dating.
“I’ve been thinking about marrying Leah for years,” the Bravo star told the outlet. “I knew it from the minute I met her, but the timing had to be right. I first wanted to make sure that we could really live together.
Yawn said she knew Shafer, 49, wanted a “fairytale” proposal, so she made sure to go all out.
“To me, Leah represents elegance,” she explained. “I had planned a boat trip to a beautiful cove. I had it decorated with flowers with a path leading to a small table accompanied by three violinists where we could sit and have a little date.
When it finally came time to get down on one knee, Yawn said she couldn’t contain her excitement — and her nerves.
“The look on his face was priceless and my heart exploded!” » the superyacht captain told the outlet. “It was filled beyond the capacity of anything I could imagine.”
“Somehow I feel closer than before, and I can’t explain it. There is an energy that I have never experienced in my life. I love it beyond; as Leah says Yawn Beyond.
The couple began dating in 2018 after Shafer slid into the reality star’s Facebook messages.
“She sent me a sweet message that said, ‘I came across your show, congratulations, many blessings,’” Yawn told Cheat Sheet in 2019.
Yawn and Shafer, a gospel singer, became fast friends over their shared faith and love of music.
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“It was like a spiritual connection at first,” Shafer told the outlet. “She has a pa*sion for inspiring people through music and youth. And broken people and me too coming from the gospel industry.
She continued: “It’s what brought us together. And then, of course, attraction and falling in love with a beautiful soul and knowing that you want to be with someone forever. I’ve never felt this way before.
Shafer, who has a teenage daughter from a previous relationship, acknowledged that their romance was “unexpected,” but noted that “when you meet another soul that you connect with on such a deep level, it “is inexplicable and so beautiful.”
Since first speaking about their romance, the two have shared snippets of their life together on social media and even launched their own podcast, called “Captain Sandy and Leah Rae Show,” in October 2022 .
Although the two are in a long-distance relationship due to the yacht captain’s busy filming schedule, they will soon have a place to call home.
Earlier this year, Yawn revealed that she and Shafer were building their “Spanish-style” dream home near Ponte Vedra Beach in Florida, which should be ready for move-in in 2024.
