The police sergeant had kept a lot of personal cards close to his chest while playing on Survivor: Millennials vs. Gen X, the 33rd season of the hit reality franchise. That includes his career (pretending he was a funeral director), as well as his sexuality. It wasn’t until a memorable sit down with fellow LGBTQIA+ castaway Zeke Smith that he opened up, recognizing what they had in common across generations. Bret recently spoke about the moment while appearing as a guest on the “Surviving Snyder” podcast, a football/Survivor hybrid podcast co-hosted by alumni Rick Devens and Brendan Shapiro, as well as renowned Survivor journalist Dalton Ross. Nearly five years after revealing he was gay to viewers around the globe, he opened up about everything that happened, including how he faced questions about his sexuality from the beginning of his season. “The first day you go out there,” he explained, “there’s this big interview process that takes all day. One of the producers asked about it, and I was taken very off guard by it. I wasn’t ready for the question, and I was so uncomfortable. I knew it came off bad, so I said, “Please guys, don’t air that. It’s just so stupid and bad.” Bret did eventually open up, during a reward getaway with Zeke, David Wright, and the late Sunday Burquest. While he and Zeke were alone, in an attempt to get closer to him as they threw back beers, Bret simply told him, “You’re not the only gay guy out here.” “I wanted to come out to Zeke because I knew it could help us,” he said. “Zeke and I get along, but I wanted to make it harder for him to vote me off. So when we had that chance, I thought, ‘This is a good time to tell Zeke and hopefully make a bond with him.’ But I thought it was a good time to really tell the story in a better way when I’m ready and thought it through. It was on a beautiful beach. I’m like, ‘Well, if you’re gonna do it, this is where to do it.’” And indeed, it seems like production felt that was where to do it too. “Everything went silent,” Bret recounted. “The crew and everything. All cameras came in on us. Sunday went up to go to the bathroom. And all of a sudden it was like I just went for it. And you could just feel the energy and everything was just like locked in. I think they even kept David back. He might have been coming back and they were like, ‘No, get out.’ They just let it happen.” As soon as the scene aired, it received a massive outpouring from fans, with someone declaring it one of the best scenes they’ve ever seen on the show. Bret apparently still gets messages about it to this day, a clear sign of the lasting power that incredibly vulnerable moment was for him to the fandom at large. “I think it’s great,” he said, “because I think everybody had made their judgments about me. I think it’s a great lesson not only for the gays, but on everything in life. They’ve made their judgments about who I was and what I was, and there’s people that didn’t like me. And then they’re like, ‘Oh my god, now I like you.’ The way they did it was brilliant. You had no inkling until that point, and then they just threw it on and surprised people. I was glad to be a part of it.” Check out the “Surviving Snyder” podcast for more Survivor and football insights from various alumni, including Boston Rob Mariano, Danni Boatwright, and Rob Cesternino. Next, check out our interview with Bret and his partner Chris Hammons from their time on The Amazing Race 31.
