When Natalie Joy first slid into former Bachelor Nick Viall’s Instagram DMs, he wanted to be sure she was “legal” before he asked her out.
Natalie, who’s actually 24, confirmed Nick’s story. “He was like, ‘I want to see your ID,’” she recalled.
Nick was “self-conscious” about their age difference
Speaking May 3 on Taylor Lautner and wife Tay Lautner’s podcast The Squeeze, Nick admitted to being “self-conscious” about the couple’s 18-year age gap. The age difference gave him pause before he agreed to date.
At the time, the Dancing with the Stars alum just wasn’t sure they had enough in common and resisted Natalie’s requests to turn their casual dating into a relationship. He needed “to get to know [her] better.”
However, the model was confident the Milwaukee native would eventually realize how well-matched they were. “I was … going to spend the rest of my life with this man,” she remembered. “I knew it and he didn’t, so I was like, I’m gonna hang on because he’ll come around.”
And she was right. They started dating in the summer of 2020, and Nick proposed in January 2023. Announcing their happy news in a joint Instagram post, Nick gushed, “For the rest of my life, it’s you.”
But despite having dated for two and a half years, the pair still faced criticism for their age difference. Natalie shared that after they finally went public, she would get “DMs of mean comments” calling her a “child bride” and other “terrible, terrible things.”
For years Bachelor Nation has had a front row seat to Nick’s romantic life. After competing in both Season 10 (Andi Dorfman) and Season 11 (Kaitlyn Bristowe) of The Bachelorette, many viewers saw the former software salesman as an obnoxious, arrogant lothario. The smarmy guy everybody loved to hate.
But during his stint on Season 3 of Bachelor in Paradise, he rehabbed his image into that of a big brother/confidant/relationship advisor to the young women on the show. America fell in love with him again, and Nick became the wildcard pick for Season 21 of The Bachelor.
After four unsuccessful seasons on Bachelor franchise shows, it took the persistence of a much younger admirer sliding into his DMs to win Nick’s heart. I wish them every happiness.
Maybe he’ll ask William Shatner to be his best man.
TELL US – DO YOU THINK NICK’S FINALLY MET THE LOVE OF HIS LIFE? DO YOU THINK THEY’LL MAKE IT TO THE ALTAR? OR DO YOU THINK THEY’LL END THE WAY ALL HIS OTHER RELATIONSHIPS HAVE ENDED?
