The franchise favorite is currently dating surgical technologist Natalie Joy.
Nick Viall decided not to wade into the Bachelor Nation dating pool. On the latest episode of Dear Media's Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, the 40-year-old former Bachelor told host Amanda Hirsch why he opted out of dating fellow franchise alums after his season on the show.
Fans first met Viall when he appeared on Andi Dorfman's season of The Bachelorette in 2014. The next year, he joined Kaitlyn Bristowe's season, which he followed up with a trip to Bachelor in Paradise in 2016.
His season of The Bachelor premiered in 2017. It was months later, after he and his final pick, Vanessa Grimaldi, called it quits that Viall decided to close the door on Bachelor Nation dates.
"After Vanessa and I broke up, I just made a conscious decision to not in any way, shape or form, romantically or otherwise, be involved with anyone from Bachelor Nation," Viall explained on Not Skinny But Not Fat. "Some people would hang out and be like, 'I think we should get together.' And I'm like, 'Listen, you seem great, but I literally don't date anyone in Bachelor Nation.'"
"If I met someone who I legitimately thought that we could legitimately date, then I would have reconsidered," he added, "but I wasn't going to have some sort of hookup or just go on a casual date or anything like that."
While he may not have gotten cozy with Bachelor alums, Viall was romantically linked to celebrities including January Jones and Rachel Bilson. While Viall admitted that he and Jones "dated for a few months," he said that rumors about his relationship with Bilson were unfounded as she'd "always and only ever been a friend."
Now, though, Viall is in a happy relationship with girlfriend Natalie Joy. The pair, who will have known each other for two years come September, recently celebrated their one-year anniversary as a couple.
The lovebirds met, Viall said, when Joy, a 22-year-old surgical technologist, slid in to his DMs. "When you look like that, I think you have a little more confidence," Viall quipped of his girlfriend sliding into his DMs.
Though she was the one to approach Viall, Joy was not a fan of The Bachelor when she sent her initial message.
"She didn't watch. She's not a fan of the show. I think she watched a little bit of Peter [Weber]'s season. I make her watch it now when I recap. She, like, watches it, but she's just not a huge fan of the show," he explained. "... She just thought I was a hot Instagram model or something. I don't know."
Joy was living in Georgia at the time of the DM, but the pair spoke for weeks before they met up in New York when they happened to be there at the same time. Meeting up with a girl from the internet was not something Viall was accustomed to doing.
"I've done it before. I don't make a habit of it. I'm definitely more of a guarded person," he said. "... We kind of joked when we went on our first date, I think we were both a little worried, like, 'I hope you don't murder me,' 'cause there is a nervousness of meeting. We had messaged for a while. But I'm cautious. Just because over the years I've had some awkward experiences... It's a weird world out there. I think everyone has to be careful these days."
Things couldn't have turned out better, though, as Viall describes his girlfriend as "legitimately someone who seems too good to be true."
"She's lovely, inside and out. I mean, like, objectively she's so hot. It's comical," he said. "... Everyone loves her. She's a sweetheart and just a very kind and fun person to be around. She softens me up in the best possible way."
As for their future together, Viall is excited for everything it holds.
"I wouldn't be in a relationship with her if I didn't think [marriage] was possible," he said. "... She's the first person I've called my girlfriend, minus TV, in a long, long time. That's because I think when you get older, you're just... a little more particular and that's just 'cause I think you're just more mindful of what you're looking for. For me personally, it was a pretty big step to want to call her my girlfriend."
When ET spoke to Viall in August 2020, he said that his "priorities of having a family are still No. 1."
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