Below Deck Med's Travis Michalzik Says He Is "Embarrassed" by His Reaction to Chef Mila Kolomeitseva's Homophobic Comments
The Below Deck Mediterranean deckhand opens up about his own sexuality.
Out of everyone in the Below Deck Mediterranean crew, Travis Michalzik seemed to have the most passionate reaction to the homophobic comments Mila Kolomeitseva made during the yachties' first night out this season. "You should just shut the f--k up. I will get out of this van, and I will never speak to you as a human being again," Travis told the chef. "Your opinion on gays shows your opinion on humanity, which is f--king terrible, and I don't support it."
Travis also called Mila an "oxygen thief" and not only kept his distance from her for the rest of the night but also seemed to not want much to do with her when the crew got back to the boat.
The deckhand explained why he got so fired up with Mila in the above sneak peek of the Below Deck Mediterranean Season 4 After Show, which premieres on Bravotv.com and YouTube on July 29. "We're pissed up. It's the first night we go out together. It's the first time we really met each other. And you're gonna f--king lay that s--t on us. She's known me for all of five days. How is she to know or to think that we're straight? She has no idea. She has no idea, and you're like just f--king sending it out into the world," Travis said. "She has no idea what I've done in my life."
Travis went on to open up about his own sexuality. "I'm a completely heterosexual man. Like, I know that now. How are you gonna know you don't like something until we try it?" he shared. "It's better to have a more interesting life and a more diverse life than just some beige s--t life."
Now looking back on how he reacted in that moment, Travis said he wishes he had taken a different approach with Mila. "But I really feel a bit of embarrassment, to be honest, about my reaction to Mila," he said. "I f--king just blew up. I was just f--king pissed off, and that's not really my way of going about things at all."
Travis said he is disappointed because he feels he "could have done better" in this situation. "I'm embarrassed because there's way better ways to communicate with people. I didn't educate her. I didn't help her to become a better person or f--king more tolerant human," he said. "We all could have done better in that situation. We all could have spoken to her better and said, 'Look, you need to be educated in these areas.'"
He added, "We didn't help, and I didn't help, and that's why I feel bad for it."
Travis' fellow crew members denounced Mila's comments on Below Deck Med, as well as on social media, showing their support for the LGBTQ+ community.
Captain Sandy Yawn, who went public with her relationship with Leah Shafer in May, reacted to Mila's remarks in an interview with TooFab earlier this month. "So that's her opinion. That doesn't reflect [me]. She can have her opinion. I don't really care. Doesn't reflect on me. It reflects on her," she said. "So when people take it personal, they should probably look at themselves and not point the finger at the person who said it. Doesn't bother me! That's her thing she has to deal with. Not mine."
But how would Captain Sandy have handled Mila's comments if she had heard about them during the charter season? Hannah Ferrier shared her take during her appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen earlier this week. See what she had to say, below.
