Who Is Jessenia Stidger on Below Deck? Her Hawaii Roots and Yachting Career

Below Deck Season 13 introduces Jessenia Stidger as one of the new deckhands working under Captain Kerry Titheradge aboard Azul V. The Phuket, Thailand season brings several unfamiliar faces into the franchise, but Jessenia arrives with an interesting combination of maritime experience, Hawaiian roots and existing connections to people across the Below Deck world.

Jessenia is from Ka’a’awa, Hawaii, and grew up with a close connection to both the ocean and Hawaiian culture. She has danced hula since she was three years old, while her professional background shows that her life on the water extends well beyond reality television. Season 13 also puts her friendship with bosun Alex Wright in an unexpectedly complicated position.

Also Read: Where Is the Below Deck Med Season 11 Cast Now? Relationships and Life After Filming

Who Is Jessenia Stidger?

Jessenia Stidger is a yacht crew member from Ka’a’awa on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. Bravo lists her birthday as December 11, making her a Sagittarius, although the network has not published her birth year or age.

She joins Below Deck Season 13 as part of the exterior team aboard Azul V. The season premieres October 12, 2026 and takes the franchise back to Phuket, Thailand, where Captain Kerry leads a largely new crew alongside returning Chief Stew Fraser Olender and Second Stew Rainbeau de Roos.

Jessenia’s official bio also shows that she was hardly entering the wider Below Deck circle as a complete stranger. She said she already knew several yachties connected to the franchise, naming people including Cooper, Joao, Jason, Max and others before Season 13 began.

Jessenia Has Danced Hula Since She Was Three

One of the strongest connections to Jessenia’s Hawaiian upbringing is hula. She told Bravo that she has danced since she was three years old and once placed second in a state talent competition for it.

Travel remains another major interest away from work. Rather than simply listing vacations as a hobby, Jessenia said she especially enjoys meeting people in new places and learning about their local traditions, which fits naturally with a yachting career that can move between countries and cultures.

Her connection to the water is also personal. Jessenia said she misses her late father while traveling for work and that being on the water regularly reminds her of him.

What Did Jessenia Do Before Below Deck?

Jessenia’s public professional profile adds considerably more detail than Bravo’s introductory bio. Her LinkedIn lists Colorado State University from 2019 to 2023 and describes her academic background in liberal arts and interdisciplinary studies.

More importantly for Below Deck, that profile documents maritime training rather than just reality-TV casting. Jessenia has publicly shared STCW Basic Training, Proficiency in Survival Craft and AB Seaman certification, saying she scored 100 percent on both the navigational rules and deck general tests for the latter. Her profile also lists work connected with M/Y Thea Foss.

That makes her one of the Season 13 newcomers whose professional credentials are worth watching once the charter season begins. Working on deck requires much more than handling toys and lines for television, and Jessenia arrives with recognized safety and seamanship training behind her.

Jessenia and Alex Wright Are Close Friends

Bravo identifies Season 13 bosun Alex Wright as Jessenia’s best friend aboard Azul V. Interestingly, Alex independently gives the same answer and names Jessenia as his closest friend on the yacht.

The Season 13 trailer suggests their friendship may become considerably more complicated. Alex and Jessenia are shown kissing, after which Alex immediately recognizes that becoming involved with someone who works directly under him could create a professional problem. Bravo’s trailer coverage quotes him acknowledging that Jessenia is part of his team and that the situation could cause trouble.

That makes their storyline more than a simple boatmance tease. Alex is responsible for managing the exterior department, so any romantic involvement with Jessenia creates the kind of authority and favoritism questions that Below Deck has explored with crew relationships before.

Is Jessenia Dating Alex Wright?

Bravo has not confirmed that Jessenia and Alex are a couple after filming. The official pre-season material establishes that they are very close, shows them kissing and makes their potential romance part of the Season 13 trailer, but it does not provide a current post-show relationship status.

It is therefore better to describe them as close friends whose relationship turns romantic during Season 13 rather than assume they are still together. Once the season airs or either yachtie addresses their current status, that question may deserve its own update.

For now, Jessenia enters Below Deck Season 13 with considerably more to her story than being another new deckhand. She brings Hawaiian roots, years of hula, formal maritime certifications, an existing network within yachting and a friendship with her bosun that could become one of the season’s earliest complications.