The Truth About Below Deck Med's Jess & Rob's Roller-Coaster Relationship

Season five of Below Deck Mediterranean was bursting with drama, particularly when it came to the volatile relationship between deckhand Rob and stew Jess. The two hit it off immediately after boarding the Wellington, even exchanging "I love yous" after a short time. As their charter wound down, Rob told Jess he'd join her in Bali and the couple, er, consummated their relationship in a very audible manner (via Twitter).

Still, it wasn't all smooth sailing as Rob was accused of being a bit too close with his ex and even flirting with crew-mate Aesha, as well as one of the guests. Both he and Jess seemed unsure of where things were going and Rob got cold feet about Bali when the possibility of doing another crossing came up, devastating Jess. However, as we bid adieu to season five, an update onscreen let viewers know he decided to join her after all.

As Bravo's The Daily Dish reports, during the After Show, Jess referred to a number of "cold feet moments" in relation to the Bali trip, though Rob described it as "amazing" and "beautiful," revealing he "got to see a different side of Jess" without the cameras around. Unfortunately, once they returned home, things fell apart. She described being with Rob as a "roller coaster" of emotions, admitting, "I've never felt that sort of affection and attention and love — and then also the polar opposite."

Things didn't end well between them, and the two are not on good terms now. Jess revealed, "It just keeps seeming to build, my disappointment for somebody that I really, truly cared about and loved and thought that I was gonna marry and spend the rest of my life with." She also revealed on Watch What Happens Live that Rob ultimately "ghosted" her.

For his part, Rob admitted to finding it hard to watch everything play out again on the show, but he argued that they "pushed each other away." Jess noted, "The show's not helpful, watching it," during the After Show, too. However, Rob admitted to still caring about Jess and he took responsibility for his part in ending it, acknowledging, "I know that I showed up, and I ruined a lot of the relationship through my inability to trust."

The Below Deck Med star also revealed, "I still love her. I still really love who she is as a person. She'll always have, like, a really big part of my heart." When asked whether he'd ever get back together with Jess, Rob demurred, "The problem is we both know each other, like we both know how to hurt each other and trigger each other. If we could address that and take ownership of the fact that we both created the mess at the end of the day and not use that," then maybe there's hope for the future.