‘Below Deck Mediterranean’: Jessica More Roomed With Lara and Admits, “I Was Nervous To Fall Asleep”

If you’re not already super intrigued by third stew Jessica More on Below Deck Mediterranean, get ready because you certainly will be. Decider jumped on a Zoom call with her last week, as she’s currently staying in Los Angeles, to get her thoughts on the whole Lara situation (she’s just as confused!), her unique hand tattoos (that come with a lovely meaning), and how she’s feeling about watching her upcoming boatmance on TV (nervous!).

DECIDER: In the last episode, we saw that you and Hannah had a nice friendship starting to build. Was there anything that you guys bonded over early? How did you know that you two would get along?

JESSICA MORE: I feel like Hannah and I just clicked right away. I just kind of told her I have no preference in style of how I’m directed. Just tell me. So I just asked. I do a lot of asking. Instead of doing it and getting yelled at afterward, I prefer to just ask. I think she appreciated that, instead of me being forceful with my method or style of doing. And I respect her. I definitely think that probably had something to do with her and I just clicking right away.

On the flip side of that, someone who had much less respect, let’s talk about Lara. Did she just have it out for Hannah right away? What was happening from your perspective?

I don’t know. [Laughs] I still don’t know, looking back on that situation. I’ve never been in a situation like that before and seen a stewardess treat her Chief Stew that way. I honestly can’t answer the logic for Lara on that. It doesn’t make sense to me.

What was rooming with her like?

Rooming with Lara was fine. Although when the tension started really heating up, I have to admit I was a little nervous rooming with her. I was nervous to fall asleep.

We see you and Hannah doing your breathing exercises in the galley, was that one of the ways to cope with Lara? Did you find yourself doing that throughout the rest of the season too?

Gosh. Yeah, we needed to meditate like 50 times a day for charters. I feel like that was just the ongoing thing, let me recenter and not throw somebody off the boat.

Can you tell me a little bit about the tattoos on your hand? I know we just get a glimpse of them on the show, but is there any meaning or stories or anything behind them?

There is. My hand tattoo, I have an appreciation for India. I’m kind of fascinated with it, it’s one of my favorite countries. I think I gained the love of art, of henna for celebration. I guess I just wanted to get the hand tattoo because I felt like every day of my life should be a celebration. It was something I just thought was beautiful.

Tell me how you’re feeling about us all seeing the upcoming boatmance for you.  

I’m a little nervous to watch. I’m nervous to watch myself on TV, basically falling for somebody. I’m nervous and curious, I guess, is the best way to put it.

Okay, great. I’m both of those things then, too. It’s early in the season but we are seeing that you’re picking up a lot of new skills — from making margaritas to juicing oranges to learning about Icing. Which of your new skills has come in the handiest since the charter season? Have you learned or done these things again since then?

Table decorations are something I get to take away from this season. I learned a lot just gaining confidence with table decorations, so I think that was a huge confidence booster for me.

Did you get any compliments from Captain Sandy on the table decorations?

I may have gotten some criticism and compliments.

That sounds about right.

[Laughs]

How did you like working for her?

Working for Captain Sandy is interesting. She exudes a lot of power, and I love that about her. It’s admirable. But she really stays on top of things, so that can be a little stressful. It’s an interesting dynamic.

What was it like for you to reunite with Alex?

I love Alex! Oh my god! I was so excited the moment I saw him. Thank god, there’s someone! We have a great relationship. It’s like brother and sister. I was so relieved to see him.

It seems like Kiko is somebody that can get along with everyone and mostly everyone gets along with him. What was your relationship like with him? I’d imagine you had to spend a lot of time in close quarters, did you become close friends?

Everybody loves Kiko. I probably say that a million times. Or if you don’t, you should analyze yourself. He’s an amazing human. He’s an amazing chef. You’re so used to just trying to dodge knives being thrown at you, or the attitude in chefs. Even under stress, Kiko was still sweet. We’re not used to that. I’m not used to that. I love him, he’s a great human being.

Oh yay! How about Malia? Did you work with her or get to know her much?

I didn’t get to know Malia much. Our interactions, though, were always positive and sweet, for the most part. There was maybe one situation where I kind of felt a way and that was — we handled it like adults.

Oh, good to know! Not always the case on this show.

No, it’s not!

We learned that you’ve done a lot of different things over the course of your life, you’ve had a lot of jobs. Is there still a job that you still want to do that you haven’t done yet?

I’m a multipotentialite. Google that term. There’s a woman that wrote a book about it.

There is. I really like writing. I have a lot of stories that play out in my head, and I’m trying to teach myself screenwriting so I can project that into reality. That’s one of my big things, I would love to write and direct. Other than that, I would like to do more philanthropy.

I’m a strong advocate for anxiety. I suffered from it for years, so that’s a big passion of mine. I’m working on writing and making a journal for that, that helps with tracking triggers and stuff like that, things that I learned from extensive years of therapy along the way, to help others with that. It has such a bad rap, and people think that you can’t manage a life and career with it. That’s something that bothers me because it’s not a true statement.

Yeah, if you can survive doing this show with anxiety, then I think you can do a lot.

Yeah, some people think you’re incapable of that job with anxiety. I survived, though.

Is there anything that you’re excited for people to see this season?

I’m really looking forward to my family seeing that I actually work hard. I’m looking forward to people getting to know me. I know I can be a bit goofy and ditzy, but I’m genuine and I’m looking forward to interacting with the fans of Below Deck. It’s something I genuinely find interesting and fun, and a big highlight for this whole thing.

I also have to ask, have you already started to think about baby gifts for Hannah?

I have! But man, she has everything thought out and done. I’m like, what do you get a woman that already has everything figured out? But I’m so excited for Hannah. When she let me know a few weeks ago, I literally started crying. I didn’t expect that to happen.

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

Where to stream Below Deck Mediterranean