Whatever Happened To Jen Riservato From Below Deck Med?

Jen Riservato had something to prove when she joined "Below Deck: Mediterranean." Despite having seven years of experience as a yachtie before joining the crew, as the only female on board, she wanted to demonstrate her competency and claim her place as the most experienced deckhand on Ionian Princess.

She also happened to be one of the few openly gay yachties appearing in the franchise, which added another layer to her challenge. It was nothing Riservato couldn't handle, though. "I wouldn't say it's hard because the people in the yachting industry are pretty open-minded, but I don't see that many gays and lesbians," she told South Florida Gay News. "I was pretty out from day one, but I'll just leave it at that."

But her time on "Below Deck" wasn't smooth sailing, due in part to her constant clashes with chief deckhand Bryan Kattenburg. The chief deckhand called out Riservato for every tiny mistake yet chose to be lenient with the male crewmembers on board, which could be part of the reason she hasn't returned to the show yet. Or perhaps, Riservato just enjoys living a low-key life. 

You should call her Jen Riservato-Nielsen now, as the "Below Deck" star is now married to Angel City FC player Paige Nielsen. Following her stint on the show, Riservato has remained mostly private and keeps her social media accounts locked. And as it turns out, she tied the knot with Nielsen in 2022 after two years of dating. According to their page on The Knot, Riservato slid into Nielsen's DMs, although the two didn't expect to hit it off at first. "Sure enough, after the first date, we were inseparable," Riservato wrote on the page. "Anyone who knows me, knows I'm 'picky'... not only with my coffee, but especially dating. And, I can honestly say, Paige is absolutely perfect for me."

The two celebrated their first anniversary on January 2023, with Nielsen penning a sweet message to her wife on Instagram. "1 year with ma boo. My love has only grown bigger for you as we learn and grow together," she wrote. "Thank you for all of our crazy adventures we had this past year, looking for more but maybe a little less crazy ;). I love you wifey."

It's hard to tell whether Jen Riservato will make her "Below Deck" comeback as many yachties on the show have, but she once expressed interest in returning. "I'd definitely consider another season, but for now I'm taking a little break," she shared in her interview with South Florida Gay News, noting that her experience was a little more nerve-wracking than anticipated. "It's pretty exciting," she dished. "Living with people on a yacht is like living with people in a trailer, it's stressful."

In 2016, she also took to Twitter to explain her behavior on the show fans berated the yachtie for being a downer during her time on the Ionian Princess. Out of thousands of hours of filming, viewers only see a speck of the big picture. I seem to be in a bad-ass mood 24:7, which... I won't even argue. I am clear on the fact that i don't like Bryan," she wrote. "Some People thrive off of proving themselves / proving people wrong. I am not like that. I shut down from criticism, especially if I am being mistreated for no justified reason." Riservato doubled down on her disdain for Bryan Kattenburg during a Daily Dish interview. "Respect is earned, and there was never even one day where Bryan earned an ounce of my respect," she said. "Bryan was threatened by me and tried to hold the ONLY things he could possibly find against me (knots)."

Judging by her comments, we don't expect Riservato to make her grand return unless there's a new chief deckhand on board.