Over two months later, the moment Below Deck fans been waiting for is here: the part of the Below Deck Mediterranean reunion where we finally find out what happened with chief stew Hannah Ferrier’s firing. Or try to, anyway. After last week’s part one of the reunion found Ferrier defending herself after being away for the back half of season five, the second half of the reunion focused largely on the actual circumstances of her firing for having Valium and a CBD pen on board. And was it CBD, anyway? Host Andy Cohen teased last week that the manufacturer told Bravo that Ferrier’s model was a THC pen, although Ferrier claimed she used CBD oil in it. Whether her castmates believed her was another question, but the conversation quickly turned to boatswain Malia White’s decision to report Ferrier to Captain Sandy Yawn. Ferrier explained to White that her doctor sent a letter to producers 12 hours after she left listing her prescription, and an onscreen note confirmed the letter.
Ferrier, White, and Yawn continued arguing about the Valium and whether the pen was THC, while third stew Jess More tried to butt her way into the discussion and the rest of the exasperated crew cradled their drinks. Then, Ferrier turned the conversation with a question for White: “If it was not about the cabin arrangements and this wasn’t a revenge thing, when you said to Sandy, ‘Hannah had her freakout last night,’ why did you not bring up then that I’d ask you to go try and find Valium?” she asked. White replied, “I didn’t realize that you were taking Valium all the time until I found it in our trash can and on our counter. It was right there.” Then Ferrier asked if White found her Valium the night she had her panic attack, and White replied that she did. “No you didn’t, you’re such a liar!” Ferrier responded, claiming “it wasn’t on board.” White repeated that Ferrier had Valium wrappers throughout their room, but Ferrier clarified that she had been taking Advil PM — which White said would still be against the rules —and insisted she didn’t take any Valium on board. More then jumped back in again, insisting that crew should’ve been made more aware of yachting rules around drugs. “You have no idea what you’re talking about,” Yawn told her. (At one point, More’s ex-boyfriend Rob Westergaard, a deckhand, claimed she asked him to throw away her own weed pen on board.)
White later explained that when reporting Ferrier, she went to the show’s production staff before Yawn. “That’s why the timing, when you see it on the TV show, it took so long,” White said. “They said, ‘You need to go to Captain Sandy.’ But on their side, on the management’s side, and on the captain’s side, it all got handled the exact same way.” Ferrier replied, “Malia, this isn’t really about you, honey. Can you just pipe down? We get it, maritime law, don’t take it, we get it, we hear you.”
Cohen later asked the crew to reflect on the situation. As Yawn explained the maritime law of it all, she said she had to fire Ferrier because she broke her contract, and it went up to the boat’s management company. Cohen then asked Ferrier what should’ve been done differently. “I think it would’ve been nice to have Sandy pull me aside and have a conversation with me,” she said. “As I said, I’ve put my hands up, I was in the wrong, I did not register the Valium when I came on board, and you’re making me feel like I’m some druggie or a criminal for having medication!” When Cohen then asked Yawn what she would’ve done differently, she struck a different tone. “Sometimes, the right decision isn’t the popular decision,” she said. “But I followed the manual.” But regardless of her firing, Ferrier added, she didn’t regret returning for the season. “I banked some good coin!” she said. “So yeah, I leave happy. I’m in a really good place in my life.” Just don’t expect her to name her baby Sandy, she added.
