Meet the Serbian Viking bear, also known as ‘Serbioso,’ Igor Milojkovic!
In this interview by our staff writer Luka, get to know Igor Milojkovik’s story, the Serbian viking bear also known as ‘Serbioso.’
Igor was born in Serbia, where he lived all his life for approximately 41 years, until he moved to Gran Canaria. He managed several different shops over the years, drove trucks, was a manual therapist at one point, and recently model for t-shirts as well as other clothing products. He was living his Slavic bear life.
He came out of the closet when he returned from his trip to Spain back in 2023. In Serbia, he was not out as gay, as it was a bit of a difficult situation having a wife and a daughter.
As you can imagine, they have been divorced since he came out. When he lived in Serbia, he was not thinking about being gay, but when he returned back and told everyone that he was, that made the divorce inevitable.
During his visit to Spain, he met his now partner Nico, whom he credits for showing him that life can be so much more beautiful if you open your mind to the possibilities life can bring.
Now, he lives with his partner Nico in Gran Canaria, has a job, and feels that life is so much greater for him than what it was in Serbia.
I had the chance to interview him, check it out below!
Luka Musicki: Hello Igor, thanks for taking the time to interview with me and share some of your journey so far. It is unique to meet another person with Slavic (Serbian) roots in the queer community.
Now that you live in Gran Canaria, do you enjoy living there and is it different than your life in Serbia?
Igor Milojkovic: I absolutely love living here in Gran Canaria. Everything is close by and we truly have it all here.
There is always great weather, there’s good stores, amazing nightlife and of course I could never forget that we have the sea, beaches, and palm trees. I just can’t get enough of seeing palms. I love them!
It is very different from my life in Serbia. There’s an overall different mentality culturally speaking, and people dress much differently too. It took me some time to adapt to it here positively, but let’s just say both countries have very different good sides.
Luka: Before the preparation for the interview, you said that nobody would be interested in your story; that there are other great bears who deserve the spotlight. Because I am interviewing you now, I hope that you feel you’re worthy of something to share beyond being the sexy bigger bear that you are.
What made you think this?
Igor: Well, I wanted to give my humble self awareness to you, as it has taken some time for me to adjust to being part of the queer community and the bear community.
However, I am glad that you asked me for an interview. It has given me the time to reflect on myself and to share my insights to benefits other bears as someone who had a different life in a different country before I accepted myself for being gay.
Luka: What was your life like in Serbia as a gay man, and did you come out later on?
Igor: I came out when I returned from my trip to Spain in 2023.
In Serbia, I was not gay, as I had a wife and a daughter, divorced now for years. I was not thinking about being gay in my previous married.
When I returned, I told everyone that I am gay because I met someone, and he (Nico) showed me that life can be beautiful if you open your mind to it, and I did.
I now live with him in Gran Canaria, have my documents, have a job, and life is good.
Luka: I am guessing that language-wise, you speak Serbian, Spanish and English. Do you speak other languages? I would assume so, given that Europe is a melting pot of various languages.
Igor: I speak all Balkan languages, Japanese, English, and Español. I can understand but not speak Italian, Portuguese and some Turkish.
Luka: Now let’s talk about your lovely partner, Nico Bear. When and how did you meet each other, and what was the spark/magic like initially?
Also, what keeps that magic going? Is it the anime-like dressing up like Pikachu from Pokémon and wearing Dragon Ball Z clothing?
Igor: I met Nico, well, we met in real life when I came to Gran Canaria for the first time in 2023. I will say, though, we talked for a year before that. We met online, and it just felt so good talking to him, as if he was my missing piece. He showed me so much that I truly needed and gave me hope, faith, patience, friendship, and most importantly… LOVE.
He is so fearless, and I love him and all his traits. He and his partner opened their home to me, which nobody from Serbia would have done. I fell in love with him, and I just wanted to change everything in my life to be closer to him just so I could be able to see him and have a coffee with him, or more. And now, we live together and life couldn’t be better.
We do have lots of things in common too. We both like photography, dancing, walking, watching Disney cartoons and going to carnivals. At the last carnival, we went dressed as two quirky Pikachu’s. When I put on the Pikachu outfit for the first time, I was terrified and felt silly because it was my first time playing dress-up, but he gave me strength to feel confident and sexy.
I felt safe and comfortable when he was by my side, and people loved our costume so much. We have more than 1,000 photos with people who wanted a photo with us. So yeah, needless to say, Nico brings me love and hope.
Luka: From your posts on Facebook, it seems like you are a gamer (or gaymer as they say in the queer/bear community).
What are your favourite games and consoles?
Igor: I have been a gamer for more than 30 years.
I’ve had pretty much all the consoles. The GameBoy and all the Nintendo consoles, the Sega Mega Drive and Dreamcast, Xbox, and of course my favourite: PlayStation. We really did have all of them.
I love racing and adventure games, but also love horror games too.
Luka: So I have noticed that you have a lot of tattoos, specifically the sleeve of them on your arm and some on your chest too. With the tattoo sleeve on your right arm, they seem to be Nordic. Are you a big fan of the Norse mythology and the Viking style of tattoos?
Also, on the left side of your chest, the tattoo is of a firefighter’s hat. Were you a firefighter going down those poles and putting out flaming queens? Haha, just kidding.
I’d like to also ask about what’s on your left arm. It seems to be a building structure with a red sun image.
You know your own body tattoos better than me. So why did you get them, what was the significance of them, and what would you get more tattoos of?
Igor: My tattoos are the story of my life. I did not see them on someone and copy them. Every dot and element is where it needs to be to tell my story. On my right arm, I have a Nordic sleeve I designed and made with the help of my friend.
It tells the story of my path in life with a focus on the good things. My family, my daughter, and at the top of my arm, there are two names. My greatest loved one is the name of my daughter, and I will keep the secret of who’s name is next to hers. Only me and that person know, but I think all can guess who’s name it is.
On my left arm, there is a Japanese style tattoo of my life with my dog- well, the ending of my life with my dog. This event changed me completely. I felt like a part of me died with her, and what came out of that relationship with her hurt so bad when she passed.
I was alone without my dog. It felt like without her, I just wasn’t me. That was one version of me that has locked all his feelings and emotions inside and thrown away the key, as if to never to feel anything again.
Before she passed, I told her, my dog, that I do not know what is after, and I am so sorry you must walk alone in there, but I will come and we will be together. I do not know if you will be reincarnated or become a ghost or just simply a thought in my life, but whatever you are after this, come and see me. Look for me. If you are a ghost, lean to me when I sleep. I will know, and I will feel you.
Well, years after that, my life was so dark, empty, and emotionless, and guess who found the key that I threw away. Nico did!
On my chest, there is a cartoonised version of a firefighter’s helmet with the number 13, a tribute to my father. It was my father’s helmet; he was one of the best and most elite firefighters in his town. I am thinking about adding one as a tribute to my mother also, but all my tattoos are well thought of. I need to design a perfect one. We will see what I come up with.
Luka: And with the nose piercing that looks like a bull ring; what is it called, why do you have it, and does it help with breathing, or is it just style?
Igor: there is not much that I can say about my nose piercing. It was something that I got to show my viking side. It does get into the way a bit when I want to clear my nose, but it matches my aesthetic perfectly.
Luka: Looking at your past life, you had a mustache, and then you had a beard. I guess it is a bit of a transition from a porn star mustache to a full beard with more salt than pepper now in your later life.
So, do you like how your beard looks, and how do you maintain your beard?
Igor: My beard is my trademark. I went through phases with a mustache, no beard, and then a full beard. I feel like it highlights my Viking roots, which I really love about myself. I am what I am; a chubby bearded guy. I did try not to be that sexy, but I just can’t help it. [laughs]
I do not do anything special to my beard. I just wash it with a shampoo that has a pH for beards, which is very different from the pH in shampoos for your head. I also use a hairdryer to put it in the shape that I want.
From time to time, I use some balm with vitamins and nothing more. I try not to overthink and overcomplicate things by going crazy with products.
Luka: I did notice that in the pictures with you bare-chested, you have hairy arms, chest, and back, but no hair around the middle of your belly. I quite like it and think you look very handsome.
I have the opposite: hairy arms and a hairy belly, but no hairy chest. Maybe I could borrow your hairy chest later in my life.
Igor: That is an interesting observation, but it is purely genetics on my side.
There is no real reason why there is no hair on my belly, but it would be nice to rub bellies with each other, and maybe your belly fur can be transferred to my belly so I can collect the fur, just like a gaming achievement!
Funnily enough, other people have observed that too, so I’ve thought about getting a tattoo on the belly to be the ‘angry care bear’ but we will see how things go. Care Bears have pictures on their belly. It is a Slavic observations to not always feel happy, but in all seriousness, it is pure genetics, and I’m happy with my body.
Luka: So you and your partner, Nico, like to go to the beaches. What bear does not like that, especially being able to get your shirt off and see a sea of furry bears around you!
What places have you been to, and where would you recommend I see when I visit Europe next?
Igor: I have been around Spain and Gran Canaria, and have also travelled around the Mediterranean. Come to Spain again!
Luka: Speaking of beaches, do you enjoy wearing budgy smugglers/swimmers, board shorts, or swimming nude? That might be a silly question to ask! [laughs]
Igor: We do like going to the beach, and we always have fun.
We have lots of friends there, so it is never a dull moment, but we do meet a lot of new people. We like to wear classic Speedos, or nothing on nude beaches.
Luka: What do you do for hobbies and fun, other than beaches and traveling?
Igor: My hobbies are gaming and driving… these two things make me relax.
Luka: Would you say being a bear has helped or hindered your life with work and the people around you?
Igor: Being a bear made my life a living hell in Serbia. People there just do not like big and old fat men for working, for dating, for buying clothes… you name it. Here in Gran Canaria, it is very different story.
I am a model for T-shirts with a beard. Nico and I were in a movie in the background too. Here, it definitely helps to be a sexy bear.
You can really enjoy being yourself in Spain, Ibiza, and Gran Canaria.
Luka: Is there any advice that you would give someone, like a bear, who would like to come out within the Slavic community into the queer community, such as how to navigate their lives?
Igor: Hmm, advice for new bears. Well, I will say this…”do it on your terms and in your rhythm” Do not feel pressure to do any of the things.
Luka: What are your goals for the future?
Igor: My goal is to live the best life I can.
L.M.: Thanks, Igor, for answering my main interview questions. Time for the quick-fire questions.
- Location: Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain.
- Pronouns: he/him/his.
- Relationship status: Complicated.
- Favourite Drink: Peach, Coke Cola, and Rum.
- What type of guy are you into? Bigger and bulky, older and intelligent. I love it when I can have a chat.
- Favourite Cities/Vacation Spots: I would love to visit Kyoto one day, but my most favourite place where I have actually been is Sokobanja in Serbia.
- Favourite Hobby or Pastime: Gaming, movies, dancing and walking.
- Idea of a good date? Any date is good as long as a person is present and not on his phone all the time and is paying attention.
- What do you look for in a guy? I do not know… if we click, we click.
- Where can you find yourself?
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Viggo81
- Instagram: @ingvar_son_of_odin
