Nick Viall was feeling a little guilty for leaving his fiancée to compete with him Special forces: the toughest test in the world.
Podcast host and ex Bachelor contestant, 43, spoke with PEOPLE about joining the cast for Season 2 Special forces just weeks after he found out that his fiancee Natalie Joy, 24, is expecting the couple’s first child together.
“It was really new,” Viall tells PEOPLE of Joy’s pregnancy. “And it was kind of nerve-wracking just because Natalie was just starting to get morning sickness, or for her, it was more like day sickness. So I felt pretty guilty about that.”
“We had our first doctor’s appointment, so it was hard to be away from her. And luckily, I had her support and I knew she really wanted me to be well.”
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While Viall knew he could count on Joy’s support at home, he says it actually complicated his feelings about the show.
“But there were moments where it almost made it difficult,” he says. “When you get to the point of breaking, you start thinking about reasons why it’s okay to stop. It’s like, ‘I shouldn’t be here.’ And for me, it was like, ‘Well, I’ve got to be home and I’ve got a doctor’s appointment,’ and stuff like that.”
“I kept thinking about Natalie and I knew I had her support. I knew she wanted me to do well, and these guys kept me going,” Viall continues, referring to friends JoJo Siw and Tyler Cameron.
“But it was definitely a challenge, but at the same time, I kept thinking like, ‘One day my daughter,’ at that point I didn’t know the gender, I just kept thinking like, ‘One day my child will be I can watch this and I want make them proud.'”
“And that definitely helped me get through it.”
The Viall files The podcast host and his pregnant fiancee shared the gender of their baby on the way in a sweet reveal in September.
Sharing a video of Viall popping a black balloon that sent pink confetti and pink balloons across the room, he wrapped his arms around Joy, who laughed and leaned into him.
“Baby Viall is….🤍,” Joy captioned her post.
In the comments, Viall joked about what his future daughter’s first words might be. “Her first word will be…Boundaries.”
The couple, who got engaged in January, first announced the pregnancy news in August.
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Source: HIS Education