Nick Viall knows a thing or two about reality dating shows after appearing on The Bachelor, as well as a few seasons of its spinoffs. He may not have found lasting love on ABC, but today he’s happily married to Natalie Joy, who just happens to be his co-host on Age of Attraction, Netflix’s new reality dating show. The show shines a spotlight on age-gap relationships, but according to Viall, its purpose goes beyond promoting dating older or younger.
It’s not just the contestants who find themselves in age-gap romances on Age of Attraction, which is streaming now with a Netflix subscription, but its hosts, too, as Nick Viall is 18 years older than his wife. However, when he sat down with CinemaBlend, he said they’re not pushing any agenda but rather are addressing the current state of dating. He told me:
I think this show isn't about selling age gaps or promoting it. It's just more about, dating in 2026, I think, is a struggle for everyone. I think people are really having a hard time making meaningful connections. And I think we just want to highlight the importance of leaning into shared values, having that compatibility and eliminating outside voices and concerns that really have no place in your actual relationship. So it's really more about that.
On Netflix’s Age of Attraction, which premiered on the 2026 TV schedule earlier this month, we’ve seen couples come together with age differences as high as 33 years, and with several of them, age truly is just a number. Other issues like lifestyle, children and emotional maturity are just as, if not more, important than the years they were born.
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The ability to look beyond age is the point, and if Nick Viall is promoting anything, it’s helping the cast find what he has with Natalie Joy. He continued:
People are going to say and think whatever they want, but we want people to find an easier path to love and happiness, and if they're able to find what I've been able to find with Natalie in my wife, I think that's personally a great thing.
Taking age out of the equation when the singles all met on Age of Attraction’s early episodes really opened the cast up to people they might not give a second glance to otherwise, and it sounds like they fully embraced the experience. The former Bachelor said:
Day 1, I think of my biggest surprise and takeaway was the authenticity and excitement of the entire group of 40 people who came in genuinely frustrated about their dating lives. You know, tired of the apps, not meeting people out in the wild. And everyone knew that everyone there wanted to meet someone, was open to finding a connection, and I think that just brought a great, positive energy to the entire group, and it resulted in a lot of meaningful connections.
Logan Goodrid, a 29-year-old who coupled up with 49-year-old Vanessa Drozda, said he thinks Age of Attraction will help to destigmatize the age-gap relationship.
He hoped that normalizing their relationships on a platform as big as Netflix would help people stop making assumptions about couples they see out together. He told CinemaBlend:
It is such a polarizing concept, right? But I think once people view the show, they'll realize that it can work because it's just a relationship. I mean, who cares about the age, if you can relate with somebody that's 20 years older or younger, and they meet all your non-negotiables, then why can't it work, right? So I'm hoping that the public can see that and hopefully not have this viewpoint, when they go out to dinner and you know, see an older guy with a younger lady and not assume it's a sugar daddy. Like that's what we want.
Hopefully viewers will set Age of Attraction as their next Netflix binge, not with the expectation of having age-gap relationships sold to them, but just with an open mind to the realities of modern dating, and what can happen when you open your options up a bit.
The Age of Attraction Season 1 finale is set to stream on the 2026 Netflix schedule on Wednesday, March 25.
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