Inside Below Deck Star Izzy Wouters' Announcement About Her Sexuality

The year 2020 has been pretty darn terrible, by all accounts. But for Below Deck Season 8 star Izzy Wouters, things became a little brighter: it is the year she publicly (and proudly) revealed her sexuality to the world.

On Dec. 15, 2020, the deckhand took to Instagram to share two photos of herself. In each image, Izzy looked off to the side and bit her knuckles. She captioned the set with rainbows and multi-colored hearts.

"The face of the straight men who slide into my dm's when I say – HELLO MY NAME IS IZZY AND I AM OUT AND PROUD," she wrote, including hashtags like, "#LankyLezzy" and "#OutAndProud."

The reality star was met with love and support from fans in the comments of the post, which racked up more than 6,000 likes. According to Bravo, Izzy later used her Instagram Story to thank her followers for their support.

And her Below Deck castmates had their own reactions, too.

Izzy's Below Deck roommate James made a joke at his own expense

As soon as Izzy Wouters came out on Instagram in December 2020, she was met with praise from her co-stars on Below Deck.

"Get it girl!! You the best!" exclaimed Eddie Lucas, who added several red hearts to his comment. "WE LOVE TO SEE IT," wrote Courtney Skippon in all-caps. According to Bravo, Shane Coopersmith, Rachel Hargrove, Kasey Cohen, and more chimed in with their own congratulations.

As for her Below Deck roomie James Hough, he told E! News that Izzy had come out to him prior to her social media announcement.

"I kind of already knew about that," he told the outlet. "She did say it to me...and I was super happy for her." And he was here for at least one self-deprecating joke:

"My mom told me, I think she checked on Twitter, that Izzy obviously came out and there was a comment saying, 'Not surprised! After staying in a room with James for eight weeks, she probably wouldn't want to again.'"

In all seriousness: Congratulations to Izzy!