Below Deck’s Tyler Walker Opens Up About His Coming-Out Journey

When Tyler Walker made his Below Deck debut on the January 30 episode, he quickly opened up to his crewmates about his personal life.

While he was tidying up the cabins with stew Hayley De Sola Pinto, he had just “started something new” with a guy who was based in Savannah, and he had a “crying fit” when he had to leave for St. Lucia.

“My sexuality is fluid,” he revealed in a confessional before discussing what it was like growing up in South Africa. “I’ve never had a girlfriend or a boyfriend long-term. I grew up in a very small, religious town. There was possibly one other gay person that I knew of, so moving into yachting, I could just explore myself. It’s been amazing.”

Though Tyler was candid with the St. David crew, he hadn’t told his parents about his sexuality prior to joining the boat (he did tell his sister ahead of time). However, in a preview of the upcoming March 20 finale, Tyler calls his mom to have that conversation.

“There’s maybe a few things that we have to discuss,” he tells her, though viewers will have to tune in to find out how exactly that chat goes.

In the meantime, ahead of the Season 10 finale, Tyler did open up to E! News about having that “difficult” discussion with his mom, and he shared what their relationship has been like since he made that call.

“It was difficult,” Tyler explained. “I think my mom took it the hardest. I think she struggled to understand it the most. We’re still very close, I still talk to her almost every day, but there’s still things that we have to iron out and more open discussions. I think having that initial conversation, she is more open now to speaking about certain things.”

While his mom “took it the hardest” at first, Tyler said he still felt “such a sense of relief” after the pair hung up. He added that his sister has also been a “guiding light” in the family to help them navigate those sometimes hard discussions.

“I think we’re all moving in the correct direction,” he continued. “As slow as it might be, we are moving somewhere.”

In addition to sharing what it was like to come out to his mom, Tyler also had an update on his relationship status. The deck/stew was in a new relationship when he joined the crew of the superyacht, but he’s currently single.

“Things just didn’t really line up. He’s settling down in Savannah, and yachting has been the life that I’ve chosen, which means being away from home for five months at a time, so it’s very difficult to start a relationship with it being long-distance,” he told E! News about his decision to part ways with his ex.

Find out what Tyler said to his mom and see the rest of the St. David crew say goodbye by tuning in to the Season 10 finale.

Watch Below Deck on Bravo Mondays at 8/7c and the next day on Peacock. Catch up on the Bravo app.