The Bachelor is officially a branding opportunity. Contestants spin their microfame into careers as influencers and memoir writers, peddling MAHA-adjacent supplements on their Instagrams. But mostly, they pump out podcasts—and lots of them.
Among that crowd of audiophiles is Nick Viall, the two-time Bachelorette suitor turned Bachelor himself. Viall watched the podcasts around him rise and fall, before launching The Viall Files in 2019. Since then, Viall’s business has exploded, inking an eight-figure deal with Libsyn and building his own podcasting company, Envy Media. (“Envy” sounds like “NV,” his initials. Get it?) What he’s most proud of is his longevity.
“When it comes to celebrity-driven podcasts, usually they have a big bump at first, they’ll come out with a batch of episodes, and then it’s a slow death from that point,” Viall tells The Daily Beast’s Obsessed. “I’m really proud of the fact that we continue to grow.”
Viall’s fame dates all the way back to his Bachelorette debut in 2014, a time he has little regrets about. Sure, he icked out legions of viewers with his choice in turtlenecks—but those are “nitpicks,” he says, not regrets. And he still agrees that the Bachelor is “psychological warfare,” pushing its contestants into a socially tense environment where love and competition are ruthlessly blended. But that doesn’t change his affection for the show or its creators; a Bachelor producer was even at his wedding.
“As someone who didn’t like their edit at times, I firmly believe that more people on that show are made to look better than they are than worse,” Viall says. “When I went on, I got fed a very thick contract that had a lot of language that I read through, and that I felt was a little risky, and I still decided to sign it. I made that choice, and no one made me do it.”
Everyone wants to break out from The Bachelor—but only a few actually do. Most are relegated to the status of influencer or recapper, save for the Gabby Windeys and Rachel Lindsays of the world. (On Windey’s recent rise: “I think it’s really cool to see people from the franchise have success beyond their appearance.”) But Viall wanted more. He wanted to own his IP, negotiating an initial deal at “a percentage of zero” so that he could keep his show’s rights. And he wanted to be known for more than handing out roses.
“It was really important to me to not be that focused on [The Bachelor],” he says. “I was a guy talking about love and dating, and my mistakes, and my trials and tribulations, and it grew from there. For the first nine months, it was really just me hustling. I didn’t make a ton of money at first.”
Much has changed since these dating-oriented days. While Viall does reality recaps and discusses big life changes on the podcast, he’s likely most known for his celebrity interviews. These interviews are teased dramatically and often break news. Viall tells me his proudest episodes have been his interviews with Gypsy Rose Lee and Tom Sandoval.
Expanding to other franchises has opened Viall’s eyes. He’s impressed by Love is Blind, which frames itself as a “social experiment,” something The Bachelor could take a cue from. More than anything, he’s realized how utterly rote The Bachelor has become. That, he guesses, might be why The Bachelorette’s summer season was paused.
“Prior to streaming services really taking off, no other network could replicate the success that The Bachelor had,” Viall says. “Now you’re seeing the results of a franchise that has been able to kind of rest on their laurels for the better part of two decades.”
Constantly pushing his opinion into the audio world has its consequences. In 2023, Viall had Justin Baldoni on his show. After Blake Lively accused Baldoni of sexual harassment, Viall told Bustle that he “had a feeling he wasn’t the person he so loudly portrayed himself to be.” Baldoni’s supporters spewed Viall’s Instagram comments with hate messages.
Asked about the saga now, Viall keeps his comments brief: “I stand by everything I said. I look forward to reminding people of my position in the future, when more things come to light.”
Sure enough, Viall has expanded his podcasting empire far beyond any of his Bachelor costars. He’s launched his own network, producing shows with Bravo stars like Katie Maloney and Cynthia Bailey. Sure, he’s still a tabloid fixture, making headlines for his relationship with wife Natalie Joy. But, in the age of Joe Rogan-influenced elections and Alex Cooper on the cover of Forbes, Viall is officially a media titan. That includes inking a deal with Libsyn reportedly worth just under $30 million.
“Why can’t we operate like a Good Morning America? Why can’t we operate like an Ellen Show?” Viall says. “When it comes to what people are actually listening and paying attention to, it’s shows like mine.”
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