Nick Viall and his wife, Natalie Joy, are the hosts of a new Netflix show that hits a little close to home for them.
During a recent interview with Fox News Digital, the couple spoke about how they deal with online trolls who criticize their 18-year age gap and what it was like hosting the new Netflix dating show, “Age of Attraction.”
“I think just we’re human beings, any criticism is gonna hurt, but I think we do a really good job of being there for each other,” Joy said. “And obviously Nick has been in this space for so much longer than I have, so he’s just such a good person to go to when you kind of feel it, and he’s good at talking you through it and getting you through it.”
Viall echoed his wife’s statement, saying the two are committed to a “phones down” policy when they aren’t working so that they can “focus on what matters.”
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“Age of Attraction” premiered on Netflix on Wednesday, March 11 and will release nine episodes within a three-week staggered schedule. The show follows 40 singles, ages 22 to 60, who find love without knowing each other’s ages.
WATCH: Nick Viall and his wife ‘do a good job of being there for each other’ amid criticism around their relationship
Joy called working on the show with other couples who didn’t view age gap couples as taboo “a safe place,” recalling how people began cheering when she and Viall shared their 18-year age gap, noting the two of them “immediately just felt comfortable and safe amongst friends.”
“Having Natalie in my life has truly been a blessing,” Viall said. “They say who you marry is really important, and she has changed it in so many amazing ways. And I think that’s what we wanted to celebrate. If people made a connection where there was an age difference, we just wanted to give them permission to explore what was great about that relationship and not worry about outside voices because those outside voices aren’t in the relationship.”
He went on to say that the opinions of others are “not going to be the reason you work or don’t work” as a couple, and he wanted to “be an example of that” to the couples on the show, calling the overall experience “a net positive.”
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In addition to hosting the Netflix show together, the couple often appear together on his podcast, “The Viall Files.”
When asked why he thinks people have such big reactions to those in relationships with large age gaps, Viall explained he thinks it is “fascinating for people” and can be “something that a lot of people imagine they might never find themselves in and then do.”
WATCH: Nick Viall calls meeting his wife ‘a blessing’
“And even though it’s worked out for us, it also doesn’t work out for a lot of people,” he said. “And I think that’s what makes it fascinating is that it can lead to relationships that don’t work, that aren’t right for each other, and then you can have people like us where for me, it’s the best thing that’s ever happened. So I think that’s what makes it fascinating, because there’s such a spectrum of outcomes when it comes to it.”
The couple is following in the footsteps of famous stars who have big age gaps in their relationships, including Calista Flockhart and Harrison Ford, who have a 22-year age gap.
Flockhart and Ford met at the Golden Globes in February 2002, when she was 37 and he was 59. They went on to tie the knot in June 2010 in a private ceremony in Santa Fe, New Mexico, attended by their close friends and family. While their age gap drew some criticism, Flockhart told Hello! magazine in June 2003, “it doesn’t faze me.”
WATCH: Nick Viall shares why he thinks age gaps in relationships are ‘fascinating’ for others
“It doesn’t faze me. Sometimes I even say, ‘Wow, I keep forgetting that he’s 22 years older than me.’ It doesn’t factor into our relationship at all,” she said. “I like the way he looks first thing in the morning. It’s not handsome, it’s more cute. He looks like a little boy.”
In addition to Flockhart and Ford, Viall and Joy are also taking a page out of Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones’ handbook. The two actors have been married for 25 years and have a 25-year age gap between them.
The “Chicago” actress and the “Fatal Attraction” star met in 1998 at the Deauville Film Festival in France. They were engaged one year later in December 1999, and tied the knot in November 2000.
“We’re just very good with one another, we respect each other, and I never really feel that he’s 25 years older than me,” Zeta-Jones told The Telegraph in November 2022.
Another celebrity couple with a large age gap is Dick Van Dyke and Arlene Silver, who have a 46-year age gap. The couple first met in 2006 at the SAG Awards, when Silver was working as a makeup artist, and continued to cross paths throughout the years, building a professional relationship, which then turned romantic after his partner, Michelle Triola, died in 2009.
They went on to tie the knot in February 2012. When speaking with People in April 2025, Van Dyke said the two “get along so well,” even though “everybody said it wouldn’t work,” having previously spoken about their age gap in an interview with Closer Weekly in 2022.
“I thought there would be an outcry about a gold digger marrying an old man,” he told the outlet at the time. “But no one ever took that attitude.”
“We share an attitude,” he reflected. “She can go with the flow. She loves to sing and dance, which we do almost every day. She’s just delightful.”
Other couples with a large age gap include Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Sam Taylor-Johnson with a 24-year age gap, George Clooney and Amal Clooney with 17 years between them, Warren Beatty and Annette Bening with 21 years, and Sarah Paulson and Holland Taylor with 30 years.
When speaking with Fox News Digital, most of the contestants from the inaugural season shared that they had big age gaps in many of their past relationships, so their main focus when signing on to the show was to find a connection.
Contestant Theresa DeMaria shared that she was happy to join the show and saw it as her “opportunity,” because she doesn’t “like dating guys my age” and typically goes for younger men.
Vanessa Drozda said she “was super, super duper excited” to meet the men on the show “because they didn’t know my age. I was like, let’s scroll back the times. I like this.”
“I was like I date older and younger. So as long as they are cute at this rate and make some money, we’re good,” Leah Woolfolk said.
WATCH: ‘Age of Attraction’ cast give their opinions on large age gaps in relationships
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“All of us have had some experiences, I think, with older, younger is why we’re here,” contestant Chris Dahlan said. “But at the same time, it wasn’t about that. It was about finding love, I think. And it was about a week in when I would say I found out what age of attraction was really about, meaning, let’s put this to the test and let’s make this real and let’s move in together.”
The other men agreed with Dahlan’s statement, with Andrew Wheeler saying age-gap relationships are “the story of my life,” adding, “the mother of my children is older and the females that I typically date are younger these days.”
Derrick Fleming added that he “typically dated younger” and saw this show as an opportunity to show the world “what that journey looks like as opposed to just hearing the age and enjoying a conclusion from that.”
“I think the concept’s relatable for me,” John Merrill said, “I usually date older women. People think I’m older than I am, so it was kind of just another day dating just with a lot weirder of an experience.”
WATCH: ‘Age of Attraction’ cast went on the show to find ‘love’ and ‘connection’
Logan Goodrid agreed with his fellow contestants, adding he has dated women both older and younger than him, noting his time on the show “was more about just finding love and finding connection.”
“Age of Attraction” is now streaming on Netflix.
