The Bachelor alum Nick Viall has addressed rumors his wife Natalie Joy cheated on him during a trip to Paris shortly after they got engaged.
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Rumors began to swirl in May that Natalie had an affair during Paris Fashion Week in early 2023, just months after she had accepted Nick's marriage proposal, and reality TV star Harry Jowsey recently fueled the speculation by commenting about the scandal on Instagram.
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In response to an Instagram comment posted on Tuesday, June 25 about Harry "getting roasted" by the Season 21 The Bachelor star, Harry wrote, "He can't keep my d*** out of his mouth -- 50 year old man gossiping about people in their 20's dating, he should be more focused on his wife cheating on him and repairing that [than] worrying about me."
Nick, 43, spoke about the "insane" Reddit gossip about his relationship with Natalie, 25, during the June 25 episode of "The Lady Gang" podcast.
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"I don't go on. I disconnect," Nick told Keltie Knight and Becca Tobin of how he deals with Reddit trolls and online gossip.
"I'm not on Reddit," he added. "I actively stay off of it, and I am unaware of what people say."
Nick explained how it's important to him to remain positive and not let toxic comments affect his well-being.
"I'm really good at protecting my mental health and the mental health of my family," Nick explained.
"And I mean it when I say it, like, I've always liked to work. I've enjoyed work. The more I build the show, the less famous I want to be, you know? I mean that."
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Nick, who appeared on several seasons of The Bachelor franchise and now hosts "The Viall Files" podcast, suggested he deals with the price of fame pretty well.
"It's just like, I like being successful, I've chosen this lane," The Bachelorette alum shared.
"I remember coming off The Bachelor and doing my thing on social media and it was like, 'You know what? I'm getting less and less criticism, and people are kind of seeing me more as a human, not the villain.'"
Nick added, "I was like, 'Man, this is nice.' People who would really not like me in the past are like, 'I met Nick, he's a fine guy.'"
But once Nick launched his podcast and started sharing "hot takes" with his listeners, he became subjected to haters and criticism once again.
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"I just stay offline. I disconnect. I don't read comments," Nick reiterated, adding, "I am offline."
It took time, however, for Natalie to learn how to deal with and overcome nasty comments or backlash online.
"She's gotten much better [with handling it]. It's so hard [to thicken your skin]," Nick acknowledged.
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Nick admitted he's even had "moments of weakness" when he's broken down and read the comments on Reddit or social media, which only resulted in him feeling "paranoid" or anxious.
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"But listen, you can never have thick enough skin to handle whatever rumors are about you. I am aware of a ton of rumors about me and I know that I'm unaware of 90 percent more because I don't f-cking read it," Nick said.
Nick also argued that most people don't really care or genuinely "give a sh-t" about celebrities' lives. He joked about how many celebrities tend to promote their own bad press by attempting to publicly shut down rumors.
"No one is reading comments [about you] more than you," Nick noted.
And so when trolls diss or slam his relationship, Nick said, "It is what it is."
It took time, however, for Natalie to learn to deal with and overcome nasty comments or backlash online.
"She's gotten much better [with handling it]. It's so hard [to thicken your skin]," Nick acknowledged.
Nick admitted he's even had "moments of weakness" when he's broken down and read the comments on Reddit or social media, which only resulted in him feeling "paranoid" or anxious.
"But listen, you can never have thick enough skin to handle whatever rumors are about you. I am aware of a ton of rumors about me and I know that I'm unaware of 90 percent more because I don't f-cking read it," Nick said.
Nick also argued that most people don't really care or genuinely {give a sh-t] about celebrities' lives.
"No one is reading comments [about you] more than you," Nick noted.
And so when trolls diss or slam his relationship, Nick said, "It is what it is... Our relationship is far from perfect, but we do work very hard on it."
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Nick opened up about how he and Natalie communicate well and have "fun" working together, especially when she co-hosts his "The Viall Files" podcast.
Nick also gushed about how his wife "is the real star" of his family because she's naturally talented and charismatic.
Nick, a two-time The Bachelorette contestant who also appeared on Bachelor in Paradise, and Natalie, a surgical technician, first became romantically involved in 2019 but attempted to keep their relationship private for more than a year.
Nick and Natalie didn't go public until after widespread reports that they were dating surfaced in January 2021.
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Nick got emotional when talking about his strong feelings for Natalie on the "Call Her Daddy" podcast in June 2022. He confessed that, for the first time in his life, he would "not be okay" if Natalie left him.
According to the former The Bachelor star, he had typically anticipated a breakup in each of his prior relationships but Natalie made him feel "so safe."
During the interview, Nick also revealed he and Natalie initially met through friends but she was the one to make the first move.
"She slid into my DMs. It was very romantic," Nick recalled with a laugh, adding that he first met her when he was with some of his friends in New York.
Nick and Natalie got engaged in Venice, CA, in January 2023 after three years of dating.
In July 2023, Nick revealed he bought the lake house his grandfather had built in 1965 for his mother so that it will stay in the family.
Nick and Natalie then welcomed daughter River Rose in February 2024, and they got married on April 27 at her family's 300-acre farm outside of Savannah, GA.
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Nick starred on Season 21 of The Bachelor in 2017 after several prior attempts to find love on the franchise didn't work out for him.
After competing for Andi Dorfman's heart on The Bachelorette's tenth season in 2014 and finishing as the runner-up behind winner Josh Murray, Nick also appeared on Kaitlyn Bristowe's The Bachelorette season the following year.
Kaitlyn ended up giving her final rose and getting engaged to personal trainer Shawn Booth, whom she split from in November 2018 after three years of being together. (Kaitlyn just ended her second engagement to The Bachelorette 14 alum Jason Tartick in early August after splitting from Shawn in November 2018).
Nick continued his search for love on reality television following his split from Kaitlyn through a stint on Bachelor in Paradise, but when a romance with Jennifer Saviano didn't work out, ABC selected him to star on The Bachelor's 2017 season.
Nick got engaged to Vanessa Grimaldi, who worked as a special education teacher at the time, but their romance kicked off with more challenges than the average The Bachelor couple to come out of the show given Vanessa had been living in Canada and Nick preferred to stay in the United States.
Shortly after getting engaged for the first time, Nick also competed on Dancing with the Stars, which soaked up a lot of his free time and energy.
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Nick and Vanessa split in August 2017 and Nick seemingly never entered another serious relationship until Natalie in 2019.
As for Vanessa, she announced her engagement to Canadian businessman Josh Wolfe in August 2020, and the couple got married on August 2021 in their hometown of Montreal, Canada.
Vanessa and Josh welcomed their first child in October 2022.
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