Lloyd Spencer Reveals What “Did Not Get Enough Airtime” on ‘Below Deck Med’

“That is actually Acropolis right behind me,” Lloyd Spencer pointed out when we spoke over Zoom last week. The Below Deck Mediterranean cast member was currently working on a boat in Athens, Greece and promised of the landmark, “In person it’s much better than my crappy webcam gives it credit for.”

The deckhand has had a remarkable season on the Bravo series, and despite feeling anxious about his post-BDM adventures, he was happy to report that he was currently working on a boat that is “A little bit smaller than Lady Michelle, 48 meters,” and in the role of bosun, no less, that he was “really happy, really great crew and I’m loving being on board.”

Here we discuss his biggest moments of the season, what we didn’t get to see, and the moments that were even crazier when he watched them back on TV.

Decider: I feel like we’ve seen so much of your story unfold at this point, what has the experience of watching it all been like for you?

Lloyd Spencer: Highs and lows, highs and lows. It’s still mortifying seeing yourself on television, especially when you hear your voice and your friends take the mickey. In general, it’s been an absolutely incredible experience and I’ve loved nearly every single minute of it.

Do you feel that we have gotten an accurate representation of your dance moves this season?

Yeah, I think the two [main ones are] obviously the goose is loose, and when I just start throwing high kicks for absolutely no reason on the night out, that’s 100% me.

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Tell me about this particular experience with anxiety. Had it been building because of the season or did you feel like a couple of those slip-ups triggered it? 

That was my first proper experience with it, so that in itself meant it was very overwhelming. I didn’t really understand what was going on. It was a mix of being back at home with the Covid lockdown — I’m usually a very social person, so I was really struggling with not being around lots of people — and then the readjustment to things not necessarily being like I was used to, being able to suddenly go out and be in big crowds. There’s all these restrictions and protocols and stuff that happened, and that really had a detrimental effect on my mental health. And then obviously certain big key points happened in the season, and by the time you saw me leaving the boat to go to see the doctor, I was very, very tired. We’d had quite a few nights out. I’d had a week or two to really overthink everything I’d said on that night. And that morning there were a couple of events that happened where we really had to start pushing forward because it was coming a bit earlier. I then was overthinking things; I made one mistake, and that just sort of hit the ball rolling and spiraled out of control.

What was your reaction when you were having those physical reactions? Those are pretty typical, but if you’re not used to it, then you’re like, what the hell is happening? Were you scared? Were you like, I need to go to the hospital? 

Some part of my brain knew that I wasn’t dying, but it was extremely overwhelming and the fact that there was nowhere for me to go and hide. You still get me going to my cabin and I’d curl up into a ball and try and breathe through it. Maybe if I’d been left alone, I could’ve got through it. But I get called out of my cabin by Captain Sandy, I have to sit in the crew mess. About three cameras were on me, I have her telling me it might be a heart attack. So every situation that can make it worse and worse and worse, all lined up.

Once you got back on the boat, she had some very nice words with you, and she seemed to be very reassuring and very supportive. What was that moment like for you, to hear that from her?

On the tender ride back to the boat, I was obviously exceptionally anxious again, just because I’d left everybody. But yeah, from the second I walked back on that boat, everyone in general but also Captain Sandy greeting me and reassuring me was one of the nicest things that could’ve happened.

A major highlight of this season has been the deck crew and that friendship. Do you have any insight being in it, what made you all click and be so supportive and work well together?

We discussed this because we’re all very different people. It’s not that we’re all the same; we all come from very different backgrounds. We all have very different senses of humor. But we called us the oddballs that all came together, and the misfits that found their home.

I think that’s what people relate to, so to see that is probably what is drawing people into that dynamic too.

Yeah, I’d agree with that. There are so many different stories and feelings that everyone went through, so there’s something that everyone in the audience really sort of feels like they have in common with us.

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What was it like for you when you saw that hot tub scene?

If I’m honest, when I watched it, I was thinking, ‘God, I wouldn’t want to be Lexi watching this back.’ Feeling bad for her, having to witness [that]. And if it had been that one time, we did forgive her, but unfortunately, it did continue. So yeah, I had some pretty mixed feelings upon watching it back. It was a hard one to watch. Very hard.

Mathew was the most vocal about being glad when she was gone. Did you also feel that? Could you feel some relief? Did it feel like everybody gelled a little bit more?

Yeah, 100%. The way that she left without saying goodbye and ignoring us when she left, it really sort of stamped a print on [her departure]. We then turned to each other as a crew and after that specific moment, things really piped up and we were inseparable at that point.

A big moment this season was when you discussed your sexuality. It was really lovely and important and I saw nothing but support for you, but what was the reaction like for you to see, that it touched so many other people?

The first thing was overwhelming. I’d geared myself up for a lot of hatred. I’ve spoken to fellow and former cast, and they prepared me for certain things. If I’m honest, I actually haven’t received — I mean, I’ve had the odd idiot message me — but as a general rule, I’ve had nothing but love and support. So yeah, it’s been really phenomenal, and the messages from people that said it’s really helped them has been just one of the loveliest things that could ever come of it.

We also learned a lot about your previous jobs. Have you heard from any of those people, like the car dealership or when you were the bus driver? 

Yeah, one of my good friends still sells cars and I went to visit him in his dealership and a few of his colleagues who I sort of knew all thought it was absolutely hilarious: the picture of me on the phone when I’m like, looking up like that. They’re all people I actually got on with, so they thought it was great. And I’m friends with, it must be like 20 people I used to do the European coach with, and I still see them all very, very regularly. So yeah, very amusing that I’m on the show.

Was there anything this season that was shocking to you? David’s fall when he got that bruise, and when Zee and Courtney fell down too, those looked shocking on TV. 

[Those] two things, slightly different. I didn’t see Zee and Courtney fall over. I just saw the aftermath, so to watch that for the first time on screen was pretty hectic. I heard the noise. I must’ve been three, four hundred meters away and I heard the crack go across the square. So yeah, watching that was great. I know that David was trying to go up the mast. When he got out of the hot tub, I just thought he was going to do something funny, so I was just like, ‘Yeah, yeah, let’s go, let’s do it,’ then he falls over. It was only much later on I found out that he was climbing up the mast to jump into the hot tub, so thankfully he fell over when he did rather than actually jumping off the mast.

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As we were nearing the end of this season, you had some worries about the next job you would have and the next boat you would work on. Since leaving the show, what has that been like for you? What have your other jobs been like?

Really good. So I get asked to stay on the boat in an engineering role, which in itself is fabulous. That was only meant to be for a week and a half or so. I [stayed] for another two months where I did a shipyard here and crossed over into the Caribbean with them. So I had a great experience with that, then I actually left that boat and jumped on Malia’s boat for six weeks. We did a crossing together, across the Atlantic and had an incredible time together.

You’ve had such a journey this season and have grown so much. Did you feel like that too? Did you feel like, ‘Oh, I’m having a little bit of a transformation right now’?

Yeah, definitely. When I look at myself where I am right now, it seems like a much smaller part of the journey, but it was definitely the catalyst to get it going. And it’s just been continuing to grow since then.

Was there anything we didn’t get to see this season that you wish did make it? 

The Katie appreciation songs that me and Mat were singing did not get enough air time. We were all sat at dinner, because we all had these different songs, and Mat and I just started singing. You know the song, “Riding along in my automobile,” but we changed the words to Katie, so it was “Riding along in my Katie-mobile, Katie’s right beside me at the wheel”. Then me and Mat were like, ‘Do-do-do-do-do-do,’ dancing around the galley and singing it, which didn’t get shown, unfortunately.

Was there anything Mat cooked that was incredible that you really loved?

I’d ask him what he was cooking for dinner, and he’d say ‘crumb nublets’ and some other word that I forgot, and every day it would really, really annoy me. And then I’d come down and what he cooked… Honestly, every single day when he cooked, it was great. One day we had a massive grilled fish for crew dinner. Yeah, he really knocked it out of the park every single time.

Is there anything else you can say about the time you guys spent in Split after the charter season ended?

It was so nice. I think we’re the only crew who have ever left together. We were so buzzed to jump in that taxi and know we were leaving the boat and getting to spend another week together. I only spent two days there because I actually had to go back to Lady Michelle to start work. The rest of the fuckers were there, having a lovely time.

Anything else you want to say about the season or your experience?

The best part of it is I’m still in contact with the majority of the crew. I speak to David and Zee a lot. Since the show, I’ve spoken a lot to Malia. She still continues to be a very, very good friend, and I’m so thankful [to have met] them.

Below Deck Mediterranean airs Monday at 9 pm ET/PT on Bravo, with episodes streaming one week early on Peacock.

Stream Below Deck Mediterranean on Bravo Now and Peacock