The surprising connection between 'Bachelor' alum Nick Viall's new baby and Kelly Clarkson
Nick Viall and his fiancée, Natalie Joy, are first-time parents.
On Feb. 5 "The Bachelor" alum and Joy revealed in a joint Instagram that they have welcomed a baby girl.
"River Rose Viall," they captioned a carousel of photos of the adorable newborn sleeping and included a white heart.
"2-2-2024," they wrote. "named after Natalie’s great grandmother and niece…the best part of life starts now."
The two also added a series of swan, dove, cloud and heart emoji.
In the slideshow, River Rose took a nap on her dad's chest in one picture and slept in her car seat in another.
Viall and Joy's baby girl stretched for a big yawn and wrapped her tiny hands around her parents' fingers in two more snaps.
Rachel Recchia, Bri Springs, Becca Tilley, Serena Pitt and more members of Bachelor Nation congratulated the proud couple on becoming parents.
The new dad continued to post about his daughter on his Instagram story. He stared at the newborn as she slept on his chest with her mouth open. The "Special Forces: World's Toughest Test" winner also shared a selfie he took with his fiancée in the hospital. "Right before," he captioned the picture.
In his final post to his Instagram story, he compared a photo of River Rose, who was napping in her car seat, to a nearly identical sonogram.
"Technology is wild," he marveled.
On her Instagram story, Joy re-shared their announcement post and added, "My girl." She included a silly selfie she took "when that epidural hit" and another close-up of River Rose, too.
"Sorry she's actually so perfect," the new mom gushed.
Joy then uploaded a sweet video of Viall's "dad walk" while carrying River Rose out of the hospital.
"We hype it all up," she wrote beside a clip of him singing and rocking their baby to sleep. "Also these hips don't lie."
Viall and Joy's daughter already has a famous connection. She shares her name with Kelly Clarkson's 9-year-old daughter River Rose Blackstock.
The couple first announced they were expecting a child together on Aug. 8 and later revealed the sex of their baby on social media.
In an Instagram video shared on Sept. 6, the pair is seen standing in a living room with a giant black balloon in between them. The “Bachelor” alum then pops the balloon, which bursts and mini pink balloons and confetti fly everywhere.
“baby Viall is a….,” they captioned their joint post, adding a white heart emoji.
Joy also shared the video on her Instagram story, adding more details.
“Getting some comments about how I’m ‘not showing’,” she wrote, explaining that they filmed the video when she was “at about 10 weeks.” “This is not currently.”
In a follow-up Instagram story, Joy also shared a video of her sonogram, adding, "bb girl!!!!!" She also commented on her baby's hiccup.
For more on Viall and Joy's love story, see below.
When did Nick Viall and Natalie Joy start dating?
Rumors of Viall and Joy dating began in July 2020. Viall, however, never confirmed their relationship until February 2021 on his “Viall Files" podcast. He later revealed how they met.
“My current girlfriend slid in my DMs,” he told E! News' "Down in the DMs" in 2022. “Real clever, it said, ‘You’re unreal.’ I guess it was funny. I was more curious, wondering why I was unreal.”
In July 2022, Viall shared on his Instagram that he and Joy “don’t know” their exact anniversary date. Instead, they “just celebrate it for 2 weeks straight around the time to make sure you don’t miss it. Always starting at the place we met.”
Nick Viall and Natalie Joy get engaged
The pair announced their engagement earlier this year in January.
“For the rest of my life, it’s you,” Viall wrote in the caption for his Jan. 12 announcement, which he shared in a joint post with Joy.
A couple days later, Viall shared a video of how the proposal went down.
"A glimpse into the best night of our lives. Here’s to the beginning of forever!" he captioned the video, in which he explained how he planned it all out.
In the clip, he shared how he told Joy that they were going to go to a special screening of Tom Hanks’ new movie “A Man Called Otto.”
“Unfortunately, we don’t get to meet Tom Hanks,” he said, adding that she would walk into the candle-filled room and watch a video of him sharing his feelings “because I won’t be able to get through it in person, and I will walk down some stairs and propose.”
Nick Viall alluded to them having a family one day
In that same proposal video, Viall mentioned that he couldn't wait to start a family with Joy.
"It's unreal to me that you get to be the mother of my children," he said teary-eyed.
In July, Viall and Joy once again alluded to their future with kids when he shared a post on Instagram, revealing that he’d bought back the home his mother had grown up in as a child.
“What a JOURNEY this has been!!” Joy commented at the time. “We will create the most beautiful memories here and our children will get to grow up enjoying the same slice of heaven their dad grew up enjoying.”
Nick Viall and Natalie Joy announce they're expecting first child together
On Aug. 8, the media personalities shared the news of their pregnancy with individual posts shared on their social media pages. “The Bachelor” alum revealed the happy news in a post to his TikTok, which featured a series of black-and-white photos highlighting Joy’s already-prominent baby bump and a sonogram of their little one.
“Been waiting my whole life to be a dad! Cant believe im lucky enough to be one with her,” he captioned the post.
On the same day, Viall and Joy also announced their news in a joint post on their Instagrams. The post featured the same carousel of images and Joy’s sparkling engagement ring.
“our biggest dream came true,” the couple’s caption reads.
Members of “The Bachelor” nation celebrated the news in the comments section of the post, wishing the couple every happiness.
Ashley Iaconetti, who appeared alongside Viall in the show’s third season of “Bachelor in Paradise,” chimed into the comments section, “So so excited! We love you guys! These pics are studding! This baby is so lucky!!”
Iaconetti’s husband, Jared Haibon, also commented, writing, “Couldn’t be more excited for you bro!”
Vanessa Grimaldi, who became engaged to Viall in Season 21 of “The Bachelor” before parting ways, also replied, writing, “Aww!!! Congratulations!!!!!”
Nick Viall and Natalie Joy announce the arrival of their baby girl
The couple confirmed in a joint Instagram post Feb. 5 that their daughter had arrived. They revealed her name, as well.
"River Rose Viall," they wrote. "2-2-2024 named after Natalie’s great grandmother and niece…the best part of life starts now."
They uploaded a series of cute photos they took of River Rose sleeping in her crib and napping during a car ride.
She sweetly held her parents' fingers in the final picture.
This article was originally published on TODAY.com
