Below Deck Mediterranean is never short on drama. Whether it's demanding guests or infighting between crewmates, the show never fails to deliver. But the most recent episode featured one of the most touching scenes in the series' history when deckhand Lloyd Spencer tearfully came out as sexually fluid to all his crewmates, who immediately -- literally and figuratively -- wrapped their arms around him in support.
Speaking with E! News, Spencer says he had no plans to come out on the show, until the moment it happened. "I was absolutely not planning on opening up about that whatsoever," he shared. "It was purely an in-the-moment thing, the level of comfort and security I felt around [my team], and the topics of conversation that had previously been discussed that evening was certainly a big factor in that."
The disclosure came following a painful conversation where Spencer described the homophobic abuse he received from his previous captain. "I was treated like a piece of shit by my captain," Spencer shared with his crew, explaining that he was repeatedly called "f----t" by the highest ranking crew member on his previous boat. "I'm 90 percent straight," the Bravo star said in the episode.
"It wasn't a very nice person, not in normal terms: wouldn't say good morning, was exceptionally rude. But when it came to comments he made about other people that we saw walking past the dock and then also comments about myself were very hard to deal with," Spencer told E!.
Fortunately, his new boat offered the polar opposite in terms of experience. Spencer said that when he shared his truth with his cast, he was "inspired" by their response. "The initial response from Katie [Flood] was just so, so, so supportive, and then to have pretty much the rest of the crew all just come over at that moment and give me that level of support," he added.
"But I think the greatest thing was when I woke up in the morning and I was exceptionally worried about it. You wake up, you're a little hungover, and you realize you said that on television and it's going to be aired, and every single one of them came up to me throughout the next day and offered their support again. Absolutely nothing changed on board and they all continued then and they're continuing now to offer me the same level of support," said Spencer.
As for that "90 percent straight" comment, Spencer also wanted to set the record, well, straight on that front. "[That] was my realization that I said it on television and kind of trying to stop it from spiraling to a full confessional of my entire life, but if I were to put it in a statement of such, I completely believe in like a fluid spectrum and as any part of my life, I might move on that spectrum up or down. It just depends on the time in my life. It depends on where I am," he clarified.
While watching this all play out on TV was nerve-wracking for the Bravolebrity, he ultimately found it to be a liberating experience. "It's the episode that I was most worried about airing. It's certainly relieving. I'm relieved that I watched it...It was nail-biting for me to watch the episode, but I have had nothing but support from just the colleagues on the boat but also from people on social media as well," said Spencer.
Speaking of social media, Spencer says he's been overwhelmed by the response he's received there. "I've gotten so many, I actually haven't read them all so far, but maybe the 50 or so messages that I've received have been ranging from people just saying so proud of what you did, we support you no matter what, to even someone saying that they watched that episode and then later that day someone was actually...it was the first time that they've ever stood up to it. And then one other person said that they've taken inspiration from what I said to try and deal with their struggles, which was really, really heartwarming to hear."
