Natalie Joy was just 20 years old when she slid into a stranger’s Instagram DMs with two words: “You’re unreal.” That stranger happened to be Nick Viall, one of Bachelor Nation’s most recognisable faces, a man 18 years her senior.
Nick was 38 at the time, freshly off a turbulent run on reality television, and not exactly looking for love in his inbox. But something about that message made him pause. He responded. And what started as a playful digital exchange between two people from completely different stages of life became one of Hollywood’s most talked-about love stories.
Today, they are married, parents to a daughter, and expecting twin girls.
Here is the full Nick Viall and Natalie Joy relationship history, from that first DM to the farm wedding no one saw coming.
The DM That Started It All
It was September 2019 when Natalie Joy first slid into Nick Viall’s Instagram DMs with just two words: “You’re unreal.” Simple. Borderline audacious. And it worked.
Nick later recalled the message in a 2022 interview: “I think DMs are a great place to meet people. My current girlfriend slid into my DMs. Real clever, it said, ‘You’re unreal.’ I guess it was funny. I was more curious, wondering why I was unreal.”
At the time, Nick was 38, and Natalie was just 20. The age gap was immediately apparent, and Nick did not pretend otherwise. He later recalled on The Squeeze Podcast that after they started messaging, he actually asked to see her ID to confirm she was of legal age.
Natalie, for her part, had zero hesitation. She recalled their first meeting in New York and said, “I knew after that weekend, I was like, I’m going to spend the rest of my life with this man. I knew, and he didn’t. So I was like, I’m just going to hang on because he’ll come around.”
Dating, Going Public, and Moving In
While the pair kept their relationship under wraps for a few months, they later shared that they officially began dating in July 2020. They do not even know their exact anniversary date, so instead they celebrate it for two weeks straight every July.
By October 2020, small breadcrumbs started appearing online. They dressed up in coordinating Halloween costumes, posting separately but clearly together. Then, by December 2020, Joy had uprooted her life and moved in with Viall in his home in Valley Village.
In January 2021, things became official in the public eye. Nick went public about his relationship on his podcast The Viall Files, saying of Natalie: “It sounds so cheesy, but she does make me want to be better. Everyone loves her. Without question, everyone likes her more than me. All of my friends.”
The age gap, however, was not entirely smooth sailing behind the scenes. Nick admitted that it was a real point of contention early on: “When we first met, I had a lot of nervousness, and reservations and fears about why we wouldn’t work, and I got in my head.”
Natalie, though, said she felt no hesitation from her side: “I just knew the whole time that we would work and that we would be compatible. I genuinely always knew it was him.”
Engagement, Marriage, and a Baby on the Farm
After more than two years of dating, red carpet appearances, and podcast conversations about their future, Nick proposed in 2023. Nick shared the happy news via Instagram with the caption: “For the rest of my life, it’s you.”
They did not wait long. The couple married on April 27, 2024, at Joy’s family’s 300-acre farm near Savannah, Georgia. The ceremony had a distinctly stylish twist. Nick described the vibe as “Vogue on the farm,” combining a black-tie dress code with the open, rustic landscape of the property. After exchanging vows, the couple released a flock of homing pigeons into the sky, and among their 170 guests were several Bachelor Nation alumni.
Two months before the wedding, Nick and Natalie had welcomed their daughter, River Rose Viall, on February 2, 2024. Natalie walked down the aisle holding River Rose in her arms.
Heartbreak, Resilience, and Twin Girls
The couple’s journey toward growing their family has not been without pain. In early 2025, Natalie revealed on The Viall Files that they had experienced a miscarriage, saying: “It has been the biggest heartbreak, I think, of my life.”
The losses continued. In August 2025, Nick shared with listeners that Natalie had suffered a third miscarriage that year, saying: “It f*cking sucks. She’s obviously at home resting, healing, both physically and emotionally.”
But then came the news that changed everything. In February 2026, the couple announced they were expecting twin girls, calling them their “rainbow babies.” Natalie told E! News: “It’s surreal. It’s a dream come true. I can’t believe I get to even say the words out loud that I’m pregnant and that I’m this far along and that I’m having twins.”
Now: Netflix, Podcasts, and Proving the Critics Wrong
Today, Nick and Natalie are co-hosts of Netflix’s dating series Age of Attraction, a show built around the very thing they have lived. The series follows couples who form connections without knowing each other’s ages, with participants only learning that information before deciding whether to commit.
Nick said of their role: “Having Natalie in my life has been the best thing that’s ever happened to me. In every meaningful and measurable way, she’s changed it in such great ways.”
For a man who once asked to see his future wife’s ID before he would reply to her DM, that is quite the full-circle moment.
