‘Below Deck Mediterranean’: I Can’t Believe I’m Totally Shipping Hannah and Joao

No one is more surprised than I am at the fact that I am totally shipping Hannah and Joao. I did not see that coming, and yet, with the latest episode of Below Deck Mediterranean, that day has arrived.

It’s been teased since the Season 4 trailer dropped, but after watching chief stew Hannah Ferrier and bosun Joao Franco tiptoe around their maybe-feelings for each other, I am officially here for it. It all makes sense, it sounds great, let’s do this.

Last season, the duo butted heads to a degree where it was disrespectful and certainly unprofessional, but this season finds them not only working together harmoniously but freakin’ HOLDING HANDS? I love this turn of events!

It all started in episode one when the two greeted each other warmly, stating that they’d made up and put the past behind them. They’ve worked well together and even shared a laugh from time to time so far this season. But when Joao asked Hannah what she would think if he was jealous of her kissing deckhand Travis, well that was the equivalent of the eyes wide open emoji and an O RLY? of a lifetime.

The latest episode kicked it up a notch when Joao watched on as Hannah was simply doing laundry, telling her, “You look really cute in those shoes.” A blush-worthy compliment as it is, but it’s where the conversation goes that gets interesting. “I wear these in my personal life,” she tells him.

“Do you have one?” he responds with a laugh.

“Yeah, it’s just I used to hate you so you had nothing to do with it,” she shoots back playfully. “Oh, touché,” he concedes with a chuckle. It’s cute!

And in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment, when Jack and Travis are making a total mess mixing drinks at the bar, Hannah and Joao watch on and he offers, “If you want me to say anything I will.” Oh my god — protective Joao is totally present!

Okay, but then my heart really started fluttering. “I have to ask you something,” Hannah starts shyly. “When you said the other night that you were jealous about me kissing Travis? That like, a hypothetical right? Nothing behind it?”

“No, just maybe in a protective way, I don’t know,” Joao responds, clearly trying to read Hannah’s mind in the moment.

“You freaked me out the other day,” she tells him.

“How would I have freaked you out?” he asks, clearly intrigued.

“You made me think that you liked me,” Hannah says.

“What difference would that have made?” Joao asks, in a way that will certainly have more people than just me screaming at their screens, “OMG tell him you like him!” Because in this moment, the camera shows they are holding each other’s hands and is this really happening?!

“There’s a very big difference between hypothetically you being jealous and you actually being jealous,” Hannah tells him.

“It was just hypothetical,” Joao responds with a smile and in a way that 100% hints he might be lying to protect his feelings in the moment.

“Yeah? Okay,” she says, not fully buying it either.

“With Joao and I, there’s a part of me that goes, not going there so put whatever that is aside,” Hannah explains in her interview. “And then there’s the other part of me that goes, you never know. There’s a fine line between love and hate,” she says with a coy smile.

Yet when Joao is asked about his feelings for her, he stammers, “I can’t…I…because I… like I’m, I don’t know,” he laughs. “Are you interested in her or not?” a producer presses. He thinks about it and can only offer, “I don’t know.”

Later during their day off when Hannah requests ashtrays for her and Travis’s cigarettes, Joao mutters, “Romantic. So romantic,” and says, “Seeing Hannah with Travis, light switch off, I’m out,” effectively squashing our dreams for this power couple.

The feelings were there, however fleeting. Hannah put on her sweet, meek voice, and while it’s the most vulnerable we’ve seen either of them in a while, they both seemed too scared to say how they really feel. Clearly they weren’t deep, deep feelings, but that either had even considered liking the other is kind of hot, and yes, surprising. It was a romance I never took seriously, definitely didn’t think I’d be invested in, and yet, it’s totally got me smiling. You crazy kids!

Of course, one look at Joao’s Instagram will prove he’s in love with another gal now, but Hannah really said it best: “you never know”…

Below Deck Mediterranean airs Monday at 9pm ET/PT on Bravo.

Where to stream Below Deck Mediterranean