Below Deck Mediterranean has been a gift to Bravo since its inception. This season has a fully overhauled cast, aside from bosun Malia White and Captain Sandy Yawn, and it’s still a stunner. Unsurprisingly, Sandy is staying on her shit. She gives zero f***s about the interior crew and dynamics, bolsters her deck crew’s growth and motivation, and is keeping a keen yet forgiving eye on her chef. Shockingly, Malia is having somewhat of a redemption season for me. Maybe being rid of Tom Checketts has done the trick?
Whatever it is, Malia has been really solid in bringing up her deck crew in her first Below Deck Med season as bosun. She’s stayed clear of any boatmances. She’s also been super supportive of ultra-green deckhand Mzi Dempers. Most recently, though, she’s been a loving friend to Lloyd Spencer, who came out to the crew after a night of debauchery.
After Lloyd opened up about being sexually fluid, almost nothing changed between him and the cast. That is, besides the new feeling of a deeper friendship between them all. See what a little vulnerability can do!? Each crew member was immensely supportive of Lloyd as he explained the trauma and mistreatment he’d received on previous boats. It was a true feel good moment on an otherwise messy and cringeworthy (I say that with appreciation) show.
In an interview with E! News, Lloyd shared more about opening up to his boat mates and coming out as sexually fluid on the show. He admitted he wasn’t even planning on bringing up the topic of his sexuality while filming. He revealed, “I was absolutely not planning on opening up about that whatsoever. 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.”
Lloyd explained in much more detail about his experience on other boats, and some of the mistreatment he’d endured. He shared, “I worked on a small boat where I was very, very close-knit with the people I was working with onboard, so it wasn’t a case of being able to avoid that person and that person was the person in charge. It was pretty full-on from the minute I woke up to the minute I went to bed.” Not that Below Deck Med makes these jobs look glamorous, but I could never.
“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,” Lloyd continued.
When it came to how Lloyd identifies, he did explain what he meant on the show about being “90% straight.” He clarified, “Yeah the 90 percent straight thing 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. I personally feel like everyone is on that spectrum. People may be a bit more than others and I certainly have my experiences where I’ve been up and down on that. ” Well said!
RELATED: Malia White Reacts To David Pasco And Lloyd Spencer Crushing On Her This Season On Below Deck Mediterranean
“It’s liberating that I’ve seen it play out. Obviously I’ve got my own memory of it,” which was heavily clouded by booze, if I may add. We love to see it! Lloyd continued, “I’ve got the memory of the others that were there, but it was especially daunting leading up to this episode. 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.”
Lloyd was also asked about what it felt like to finally have a crew support him and rally around him during the emotional moment. He gushed, “The word inspiring comes to mind. It was unexpected but incredibly inspiring. 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.” Three cheers for our new Chief Stew Queen! Katie is absolutely making a name for herself this season.
“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 onboard and they all continued then and they’re continuing now to offer me the same level of support.” I’m telling you, this crew (aside from a couple I won’t name) is a unicorn of normalcy and acceptance. Something I think we could all use these days.
RELATED: Below Deck Mediterranean Bosun Malia White Defends Captain Sandy Yawn After She Publicly Questioned Malia’s Sexuality
Lloyd also admitted he would welcome an opportunity to return to the Below Deck Med screen. He said the show “completely smashed” his previous experiences and perspective on the yachting industry. Surround yourself with good people, everyone! It’s worth it. In his final message Lloyd shared, “I came out of it with such a confidence boost and such a positive view.”
TELL US – WHAT WAS YOUR REACTION TO LLOYD COMING OUT TO THE CREW? HOW ARE YOU ENJOYING BELOW DECK MED SO FAR THIS SEASON?
[Photo Credit: Laurent Basset/Bravo]
