Why Does Travis from ‘Below Deck Med’ Regret His Infamous ‘Oxygen Thief’ Comment?
Deckhand Travis Michalzik from Below Deck Mediterranean delivered the mic drop moment of the season when he referred to Chef Mila Kolomeitseva as an “absolutely oxygen thief.”
The crew was venturing out for their first off-charter dinner. And Michalzik, deckhand Jack Stirrup, stew Aesha Scott, and Kolomeitseva were in a van together. Kolomeitseva observed that Michalzik had a nose piercing and commented that gay men have nose piercings.
This remark sparked a deeper conversation. Kolomeitseva shared she did not want to see two men kissing. But also said homosexuality was abnormal. While everyone in the van was shocked, it was Michalzik who had the strongest reaction.
He lowered the boom
Although everyone in the van kept their cool, Michalzik let it be known how he felt. “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,” he said after Kolomeitseva doubled down on her remarks.
He added, “Your opinion on gays shows your opinion on humanity, which is f**king terrible, and I don’t support it. You absolute oxygen thief.” Once he delivered his remarks he refused to go near or speak to Kolomeitseva for the remainder of the night.
In fact, when he’d be at the bar and she’d walk over, he’d quickly depart. Michalzik explained why in a clip from Below Deck Mediterranean Season 4 After Show,
“We’re pissed up. It’s the first night we go out together,” Michalzik said, Bravo’s The Daily Dish recounts. “It’s the first time we really met each other. And you’re gonna f**king lay that sh*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.”
But now he’s a little embarrassed
Even though fans cheered, Michalzik regrets his delivery. “I really feel a bit of embarrassment, to be honest, about my reaction to Mila,” he said. “I f**king just blew up.” He added he was “just f**king pissed off, and that’s not really my way of going about things at all.”
As someone who appears to have a way with words, Michalzik thinks he could have been a better communicator. “I’m embarrassed because there’s way better ways to communicate with people,” he said. “I didn’t educate her. I didn’t help her to become a better person or f**king more tolerant human.”
In fact, “We all could have done better in that situation,” he added. “We all could have spoken to her better and said, ‘Look, you need to be educated in these areas.'” Michalzik also said although he is heterosexual he has done some exploring. “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.”
Does the crew eventually educate the chef? Tune to Bravo every Monday at 9/8c for Below Deck Mediterranean.
