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A look into Captain Sandy from Below Deck’s adorable relationship with her fiancée Leah
The two just announced their engagement!
Reaching a major relationship milestone, Captain Sandy Yawn from Below Deck has just announced her engagement to her girlfriend of five years, Leah Shafer. Captain Sandy proposed to Leah whilst the two were on holiday together.
Sharing the news, Sandy wrote, “It’s official! I asked Leah to marry me, and she said YESSSSS! We are engaged! Stay tuned for the wedding!” Her Below Deck co-star Aesha Scott led congratulatory comments, writing: “SOOOOOOOOOO EXCITING GAAAHHH!!!! Couldn’t be happier for you two!!!!! Best couple!”
Speaking about her engagement Sandy said: “I have been thinking about marrying Leah for years. I knew from the minute I met her, but the timing had to be right. I wanted to make sure we could truly do life together first.
“Leah wanted the fairytale, and to me, Leah represents elegance. I planned a boat ride to a beautiful cove. I had it decorated with flowers with a path to a small table accompanied by three violinists where we could sit and have a small date.
“I truly could not wait! I shared my vision list of love I had written and wanted, then got on one knee. Then, she said ‘yes!’ The look on her face was priceless, and my heart exploded.”
But how exactly did the two meet? Let’s have a look into the adorable relationship between Captain Sandy and Leah Shafer.
Captain Sandy and Leah met in 2018 after Leah reached out to Sandy through Facebook. Sandy described how Leah “sent me a nice message that said, ‘I came across your show, congratulations, many blessings.'”
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Leah described it as “like a spiritual connection in the beginning. She has a passion for inspiring through music and the youth. And broken people and so do I coming from the gospel industry. That’s what brought us together. And then, of course, the attraction and falling in love with a beautiful soul and knowing you want to be with someone forever. I’ve never felt that way before.”
After exchanging messages on the social networking platform, the pair finally met in person in Los Angeles where Leah was living at the time, and there was immediate chemistry between the two of them. “It was definitely unexpected, it just happened, when you meet another soul that you connect with at such a deep level, it is unexplainable and so beautiful.”
Captain Sandy has previously opened up in her book Be the Calm or Be the Storm: Leadership Lessons from a Woman at the Helm about the importance of her romance with Leah, writing, “I believe God has a way of preparing you for ‘the one.’ He knew I wasn’t ready for her all those years ago. And she wasn’t ready for me. We were both being prepared for each other. God waited for us. He gave me opportunities to make different choices and be more conscious, so that when that sweet little Facebook message came across my page, I was open.”
Before Captain Sandy, Leah was married to motivational speaker Ross Shafer for 20 years. The couple have a now 15-year-old daughter, Lauren Rae, who they adopted in 2006.
Leah has her own gospel singing career and has released six albums as well as being the national anthem singer for the NFL and NBA. She also owns her own aesthetician company called Skin By Leah where she offers facials and micro-needling amongst other treatments.
Captain Sandy and Leah have bought one house together and are currently building another together, and share one dog, Bailey together. The two even have their own podcast together called The Captain Sandy and Leah Rae Show where they talk about their relationship, coming out later in life and interview other Below Deck alumni like Chef Tom! Looks like the Below Deck Captain Sandy and Leah have a very happy relationship ahead of them!
Seasons five and six of Below Deck are available now on Netflix. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.
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