Fraser Olender is “doing much better” after suffering a heart attack caused by vaping.
The “Below Deck” star’s boyfriend, Matt Rogers, revealed the positive update on Tuesday’s episode of “Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.”
“I know a lot of people are watching that care about him. Thank you so much. He’s doing a lot better,” the “Las Culturistas” podcast co-host told Andy Cohen and fellow guest Heather Gay.
Rogers, 35, concluded by staring directly into the camera and warning viewers not to vape, saying, “Don’t do it. Throw it away.”
Last week, Olender revealed he had been hospitalized in London with a lung injury.
“This is not chic but very important for me to share ⚠️,” the Bravolebrity, 33, captioned an Instagram carousel that included photos from his hospital stay.
“A few weeks ago I was rushed to [the] hospital due to severe chest pains and difficulties breathing,” he recalled.
The chief steward shared that he remained hospitalized for a week as specialists addressed the extent of the damage.
“To keep it simple — I had vape poisoning (an E-cigarette or Vaping-Associated Lung Injury (EVALI)) and I have never experienced fear or pain like it,” he admitted.
According to Olender, a substance in his vape caused him to “have a coronary artery vasospasm,” which led to the arteries supplying blood to his heart to “suddenly [clamp] down.”
“That spasm reduced blood flow enough to cause an ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI), better known as a heart attack – not because of a blockage, but because my heart wasn’t getting enough oxygen during the spasm,” he said.
Olender expressed gratitude that he is now recovering and said he shared his story to “help even one person rethink vaping.”
Olender has not vaped since the health scare and plans to never touch one again.
“The pain I endured for 24 hours was inexplicable, 2 rounds of morphine didn’t touch the sides and eventually had to be given the strongest pain relief legal to administer in ER — and that only brought my pain from a 10 to a 7,” he noted.
Olender said that he could have died over a habit he described as “ridiculously stupid” and wanted fans to “do [themselves] a favour and give it up too – cold turkey.”
He warned fans that there’s not enough information on E-cigarette devices, calling the entire experience “NOT cute, not even for the plot 👎🏼.”
“Love you all, be safe, put your health first and thank you for all of your well wishes 🫶🏼,” he added.
“P.s. it’s been nearly 3 weeks off the vape – my skin has never been better, brighter and clearer, there MUST be a correlation. BEST skincare hack out there 👀,” the post concluded.
Olender and Rogers confirmed their relationship during BravoCon 2025 in November.
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