‘Wicked Tuna’ Star Secretly Got Married: Captain Dave Carraro Reveals Wedding During Season 13 Premiere

Congratulations are in order for Wicked Tuna Captain Dave Carraro. The FV-Tuna.com captain is a married man after he and his long-time girlfriend Jess Boardway quietly tied the knot in May 2023.

Carraro dropped the exciting news nearly a year after the ceremony with a simple line in the Wicked Tuna Season 13 premiere back in March. Speaking with his team and promising that they would be “home for dinner,” the famed captain said, per Starcasm, “I can go hang out with my girlfriend – I mean, my wife… I gotta stop saying girlfriend. (…) I’m a newlywed and I want to catch fish more than ever.”

While Carraro’s statement was seemingly the first time he confirmed his marriage to Boardway, who is 21 years younger than the NatGeo star, it is not the first confirmation of the nuptials. Back in May 2023, Charter Captain Robert Earl, one of Carraro’s friends, shared images of the ceremony to Instagram, writing, “Was honored to attend the wedding of Dave Carraro and Jess Boardway! Was a beautiful Gloucester venue with a more beautiful couple. Thank you for letting us be part of your special day!” Carraro himself has not shared photos from the big day to social media.

Carraro and Boardway have been romantically linked since at least 2016 when Boardway shared photos of herself with the famed fisherman to Facebook, per Digital Spy. Two years later, Carraro referenced Boardway on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “you have no idea how bad I really am … twice as bad in real life. My girlfriend sleeps in the garage.” (We assume he was kidding!)” The couple went on to mark a new relationship milestone in 2020 when they welcomed a new dog into their home named Calvin.

Carraro is best known as one of the stars of the National Geographic series Wicked Tuna, which follows a group of fishermen from the nation’s oldest seaport, Gloucester, Massachusetts. Carraro, who has been fishing for more than three decades, has appeared on the show since its premiere, ultimately winning the series four times. He has also appeared on the spinoff series Wicked Tuna Outer Banks. He is captain of the FV-Tuna.com, a 44-foot Calvin Beal with a lightweight Fortress FX-37 anchor.