“I felt like he was running for me”

Jessica Almenäs, 44, believes others thought she was a doomsday prophet when she said early in the spread of the corona virus that “there will be no Olympics.”

When the message arrived in late March, Almenäs was not surprised.

– But it is clear that he was sad and disappointed. Partly for my own good and all the Channel 5 crew that was ready to make really good broadcasts from there. But especially for all the athletes who have been preparing for the Olympics for years, and then it will be nothing. What an anticlimax.

Almost four years have passed since Jessica Almenäs left TV4 to start Discovery.

One of the reasons for the change of channel was precisely the Olympic Games.

– I have never worked with the Olympics and it has always been my biggest dream. Many programmers dream of leading the Melodifestivalen, I never did. If you are interested in sports, the Olympic Games are the most important. I have a broad interest in sports and I watch everything when it comes to championships.

During the Pyeongchang Olympics, Jessica Almenäs was the program director for Discovery broadcasts from the Games. Since then, he has worked with “Superstars” and “Who can beat Anja and Foppa?” And this summer, the idea was that she would again be the administrator of the program for the Olympic Games before a year was brought forward due to the crown pandemic.

But behind Jessica Almenäs’ channel change there is also something else, when Discovery’s job offer arrived it was adequate. Going to work on TV4 had been difficult.

– Every time I came to TV4’s house my stomach hurt. The workplace wasn’t bad, but it was because it was where I got sick. I think the environmental change was the best thing that could happen, and having to do completely different shows and maybe not really with that press, considering they were recorded shows and not live broadcasts.

It was in the fall of 2015 that Jessica Almenäs fell ill, after collapsing at work, doctors noted that she suffered from fatigue syndrome.

– It was an incredibly difficult time. My goal for the day I was sickest was to get the kids together every day. I was single at the time, and my days were being able to take them to school and cook at night, but it was a lot of takeaway food.

“I was in my cabin”

Before Jessica Almenäs got sick, she was training for a marathon, and training has always been an important part of Almenäs.

But then it was a stop.

– The doctor said he was so sick that he would not exercise at all because it involves negative stress. And he didn’t have the strength at all. It took me 20 minutes to follow the kids to school, and then when I got home I was completely broke and had to go to bed.

– I don’t think exercise is always the solution when you feel bad, sometimes it can require too much energy. But on the way back it became very important to me.

In March 2016 Jessica Almenäs returned to the TV box as program manager for “Let’s Dance”

– But when I wasn’t working, I went to bed in my cabin. In hindsight, it obviously shouldn’t have worked then. But I felt like I didn’t want to put anyone in the shit, I had been doing “Let’s Dance” for eight years, and the idea that it could be replaced if I didn’t drive there was also there.

“I was really sunk”

The first television recording that Jessica Almenäs made for Discovery was “Superstars” in the fall of 2016.

– But I still wasn’t healthy, I had to lie down and sleep between the recordings. It is a frustrating feeling not to be healthy. There was so much anxiety associated with work. It was always easy for me to learn the script, but I felt that I couldn’t learn much from the outside and couldn’t remember what people were called. Then I thought I could never go back to work.

– I felt he was running for me, what should I do with my life now? I don’t know anything else. And when will I be myself again? You don’t feel like you’re exhausted. You become a different person.

How long were you sick?

– It was probably at least a year and a half that I really went down.

Are you fully restored now?

– No, and I never think that you will be 100 percent healthy after being hit by something like this. I feel like I’m much less stress resistant now and when I work it still requires a lot more energy. When there are long recordings, I need to take a day and do nothing, just stay home in soft clothes. I have learned that. But when you start to feel healthy, it’s easy to get past that energy limit and get setbacks.

– It has been a long journey, but not only because of the pain.

What has been positive?

– I have become much better saying no.

What do you say no to?

– Mainly for social things, girls’ dinners, things with friends and events. You have to prioritize what you have energy for and then I prioritize family, work and training.

Do you still have friends

– I’ve always been very familiar, but not so many real friends. But the real friends I have are still there, even if you can’t meet them that often. However, the number of acquaintances has probably been reduced. Because I’m not so out in the open anymore.

– But it feels totally good.

“It was safe to work with Adam”

Along with Adam Alsing, Jessica Almenäs was the director of the “Soccer Gala” program four times.

Just over two weeks ago, Alsing died at the age of 51 in covid-19.

– It’s terrible, I can hardly understand it yet. It is very difficult to bring it. I didn’t know he was sick, so it was a shock. It feels completely unreal.

Jessica Almenäs remembers Adam Alsing as a confident colleague and a warm friend.

– There are a lot of crappy boots in my industry, many program managers who have many rivalries for themselves, but Adam does not. He was incredibly prestigious and confident. You always felt safe working with him.

– And he was very kind, he was always interested in what happened in life and asked many questions. Adam was a good person, he feels so unfair that he is gone.

Jessica Almenäs is currently up to date with “Superstars at home” on DPlay.

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