Nick Viall is grateful for his late-in-life dyslexia diagnosis.
“When I was a kid, you didn’t know about dyslexia or talked about dyslexia,” Viall, 44, said on the Wednesday, February 26, episode of his “Viall Files” podcast. “If you found out you were dyslexic, you weren’t telling people. It’s something you would have definitely gotten picked on [for].”
The former Bachelor ultimately received his diagnosis in adulthood.
“I was like, ‘Why can’t I read out loud very well?’” Viall recalled. “I could never figure it out. I was like, ‘I’m not stupid.’ … [I was] in my 30s. I didn’t really change anything. I didn’t take any classes to help me read better aloud.”
Nick Viall’s “insecurities” made him hesitant to start a long-term relationship with now-fiancée Natalie Joy. “We were long distance,” Viall, 43, explained while appearing on Kristin Cavallari’s “Let’s Be Honest” podcast on Tuesday, October 31. “I was worried we might be in different places of our lives. But she was like, ‘I think we should […]
He continued, “I felt a little seen, not to sound corny. I’m a big believer in, like, I don’t like to lean into my weaknesses, but I think it’s nice to know what they are. I don’t have to make excuses for anything, it’s just [that] I’m dyslexic.”
While Viall never leads with his learning difficulties, he noted that it’s “nice to know” why he often struggled in class growing up and at certain media events.
“Now I know why I had no idea how many vowels were in a word or why I have a hard time reading a teleprompter when everyone makes it look so easy [and] it’s so hard for me,” Viall said. “After I found out, people were telling me all the very talented, very successful people who are dyslexic.”
Viall’s wife, Natalie Joy, chimed in to share that the first book he ever bought their daughter was called Dyslexic Legends.
“I bought it for myself,” Viall corrected. “We were at a kid’s store and I bought it for me. I’ll read it to her someday and tell her about dad.”
Donato Sardella/WireImage Nick Viall and fiancée Natalie Joy recalled a scary moment during the birth of their daughter River Rose. “I pushed three times … and she came out with her umbilical cord wrapped around her neck several times, Joy, 24, said on the Thursday, February 22, episode of the “Viall Files” podcast. “Which I […]
The Dyslexic Legends, written by Beck Feiner, is an alphabetic book listing all the famous stars from Albert Einstein to Pablo Picasso, who navigated dyslexia amid their respective successful careers. Viall and Joy, 26, picked up the book in honor of daughter River Rose.
Joy gave birth in February 2024, celebrating River’s first birthday earlier this month.
“The fastest a year has gone by 💗,” they captioned a joint Instagram post on February 2. “Happy 1st birthday to our sweet girl, River Rose. You’re a dream come true.”
Viall and Joy started dating in 2019 after the former nurse slid into his Instagram DMs. Viall proposed in January 2023 before they wed in April 2024.
