Survivor: Game Changers castaway Zeke Smith is in a relationship!
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Zeke is dating actor Nico Santos, who is best known for his role on NBC's Superstore, E! News reported.
Nico confirmed the relationship in a cute Instagram post that he shared during Los Angeles' Pride event.
"We're here! We're queer! We're brunching! Getting some after parade nomnoms with my love. Happy Pride Los Angeles!!!" Nico captioned the image.
Nico has also referred to Zeke as his "boyfriend" and "my man" in other sweet social-media posts.
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Zeke and Nico reportedly began dating in May, though they didn't go public with their romance until recently.
This past summer, the couple apparently enjoyed a getaway to Palm Springs.
Zeke was a 29-year-old asset manager from Brooklyn, NY, at the time he competed on Survivor's 34th season in Spring 2017. Zeke made headlines for months because his fellow castaway, Jeff Varner, outed him as transgender during a Tribal Council session.
Not only was the tribe unaware of this, but Zeke said at the time he hadn't even come out to most people in his life at home. Jeff therefore received brutal backlash for betraying Zeke and outing him to the world without warning or permission.
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The topic of Zeke being transgender was brought up because Jeff told his Survivor: Game Changers tribe there was "deception on many levels" happening, and then he cited Zeke's undisclosed transgender identity as an alleged example.
Knowing he was the target, Jeff was attempting to deflect the vote onto the tribe's biggest physical threat, Ozzy Lusth, whom Zeke had been protecting for his own benefit come the merge.
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Zeke struggled to forgive Jeff before and after the show aired, but Jeff insisted he apologized numerous times -- both to Zeke personally and publicly -- for his mistake and never meant to hurt him.
"I understand Zeke is calling me a bigot and talking about the hate I have in my heart, and that is so wrong, and it is so unfortunate. But I respect it, and I give him every bit of space to have that reaction because what I did to him was horrible," Jeff told Reality TV World in an April 2017 statement.
About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski