Story highlights Smith was outed on Wednesday night's episode

Varner tweeted an apology

This story contains spoilers for Wednesday's episode of "Survivor: Game Changers."

(CNN) The outing of a "Survivor" cast member on television has sparked outrage.

Zeke Smith, who appeared on back-to-back seasons of the reality series, was revealed to be a transgender man by fellow contestant Jeff Varner in an episode that aired Wednesday night.

Varner, who is gay, shared the information during an emotional Tribal Council on "Survivor: Game Changers."

"Why haven't you told anyone you're transgender?" Varner asked Smith.

Other contestants reacted negatively, telling Varner that was personal and he shouldn't have said it. Varner insisted he did it to show that Smith was deceptive during the game.