Giulio Spatola, the reigning Mr Gay World, has spoken out about the problematic culture of drug use during sex among some gay and bisexual men. The 41-year-old, who works in the cinema industry and originally hails from Palermo, Italy, but is now based in London, suffered psychosis that triggered terrifying paranoid thoughts of people attempting to kill him during a prolonged period of substance abuse.
Initial Drug Use and Escalation
Spatola first experimented with mephedrone and gamma-hydroxybutyrate (GHB), an illicit recreational party drug, back in 2019. Initially, he described his drug use during sex as occasional, but by 2021 he was engaging in chemsex — defined as sex under the influence of psychoactive drugs by the British Medical Journal — almost every weekend. The consequences on his mental health were severe, leading to episodes of psychosis and depersonalisation, a dissociative condition in which a person feels detached from themselves.
At his lowest point, Spatola was visiting a sexual health clinic for sexually transmitted infections (STIs) twice a month and frequently calling in sick to work due to bad downs following weekend-long chemsex sessions.
Turning Point: Mr Gay World
It was in the months leading up to receiving the call to compete in the Mr Gay World pageant on 1st December last year that Spatola began to take his sobriety seriously. He said: "Mr Gay World saved me and gave me one more reason to stay sober. To my surprise, I was the only one who mentioned chemsex during the competition because it's a big thing to come out like this. But then when they later screamed, 'Let's welcome our new king' and I found out I won, I felt a rush. I did it, and it was a dream come true."
Background and Relocation
Spatola's pageant journey began in 2010 when he claimed victory in both Mr Gay Street and Mr Gay Rome on the same day, subsequently going on to triumph in Mr Gay Italy and Mr Gay Europe. Due to a scheduling conflict, his production team opted for him to enter Mr Gay Europe in Romania rather than Mr Gay World in the Philippines in 2011, before he stepped down from pageant competitions in 2012. He relocated to London in 2013, completed a cinematography degree, and embarked on a career in visual effects in 2017.
Descent into Chemsex
By the summer of 2019, Spatola was introduced to GHB and mephedrone simply to fit in and because everyone was doing it at a party. He began using around once a month, exclusively on Saturday nights. In 2020, he described having a perfect life — a partner, their own flat, and his dream career. Then the Covid-19 pandemic struck and destroyed everything, compelling him to return to Italy for five months. By March 2021, his relationship had collapsed, and he was forced to move in with friends. This was the point at which he became deeply entrenched in the chemsex scene, which is most prevalent among men who have sex with men, where drugs are used to facilitate, enhance and prolong sexual encounters.
Spatola said: "I found myself emotionally weak, like I had never been in my whole life... I felt hurt by the break-up. So I decided to suffocate all the pain by just going out and partying. That's when chemsex started to become problematic. I started to use drugs way more and I was going to parties where I would have multiple partners – like in orgies and sex parties. I wanted to suffocate the part of me that wanted a partner."
Mental Health Deterioration
At the peak of his drug-fuelled sexual encounters in 2021, which would frequently stretch across an entire weekend, his mental health deteriorated severely with recurring episodes of psychosis and depersonalisation triggering paranoid panic attacks. On one occasion, he became convinced that people inside his friend's house had stolen his keys, had copies made, and could enter his home to kill him at any moment. Regarding his sexual health, he routinely took PrEP, a preventative HIV medication, yet this did not protect him from contracting other STIs. He said: "I was at the Dean Street sexual health clinic twice a month for STIs. To the point that I remember the nurse told me that if I continued at the rate I was going, the antibiotics that they injected me with were not going to do anything anymore."
He would also phone in sick to work at least once a month, leading HR to question his health. Spatola underwent an assessment and began an email programme which helped him recognise that he was trapped in a loop he couldn't escape. He believes a subsequent diagnosis of autism and ADHD at age 40 helped him understand the link between neurodivergence and addiction.
Path to Recovery and Advocacy
By July 2025, Spatola received an unexpected Instagram message from Mr Gay World, revealing they'd spotted his background in gay pageants and asked whether he'd like to represent Mr Gay Italy at the competition scheduled for December 1. He said: "The very same moment that I accepted, I knew I wanted to bring the word 'chemsex' on that stage. It was my way of making the years of bad experiences that I had meaningful." Throughout the pageant, delegates are assessed across multiple themed costume rounds, alongside their understanding of global LGBTQ+ history, and their reasons for becoming the next Mr Gay World. Upon discovering he'd claimed victory, he raised a photograph of David Stuart, described as a pioneer of chemsex harm reduction in London prior to his death in 2022.
Since his win, Spatola has been given a bigger platform to talk about chemsex, including involvement in a campaign titled Out In The Open, launched by LGBTQ+ dating app Grindr alongside not-for-profit organisation You Are Loved, which revealed 28% of LGBTQ+ people across the UK have engaged in sex while using drugs within the past year. He said it's crucial for him to respond directly to individuals who contact him regarding their own chemsex struggles, enabling him to offer the empathic support he desperately wished he'd received. He added: "I was scared that I had completely broken myself and there was no going back – but there is."
