Amid hosting Netflix’s reality TV bake-off show Nailed It!, launching a new plus-size bikini line, starring in television shows and anchoring four podcasts, Nicole Byer has taken up pole dancing. Just don’t expect her to be any good at it.
“I think we need to normalize being mediocre or bad at our hobbies,” the comedian tells the Weekly. “I can climb up a pole. I’m very strong, and it’s cool. I don’t want to be sexy. I just want to scare people.”
Since the days of starring in MTV’s Girl Code, Byer has thrived as one of the most refreshing voices in comedy. How many comics could make a book out of their bikini photos, as Byer did with 2020’s #VeryFat #VeryBrave, and have it become a humorous instruction manual for body acceptance? “That was such a dumb labor of love,” she laughs. “But I’m really proud of that book.”
As the first Black woman to be nominated (four times) for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competitive Program, this comedian is breaking ground and doing it the Byer way. “I don’t do sh*t that’s not fun,” she says. “If it’s not fun, I make it fun.”
We caught up with her ahead of her stand-up gig at the Chelsea to talk dating stories, her love for Vegas girls’ trips and why unscripted TV needs to be unionized.
You were in Vegas not too long ago for Magic Mike Live. How was that trip? Oh, yeah, I did a whirlwind of a trip with my friend. We went to Usher, Criss Angel Mindfreak, Cirque du Soleil and Magic Mike. I drove a Ferrari at some racetrack. We did go-karts. That’s how I like to do it. I don’t gamble; I don’t understand it. Last time I gambled, I was absolutely sh*tfaced with my friend’s sister, and I was sitting at one of the slots, and I was banging on a button like, “This is how they get you. They get you by sitting here. You just press the same button.” Then a man walked by and said “You have to put money in it.” (Laughs)
Why Won’t You Date Me?, a podcast in which you discuss wild dating stories, is one of my favorites. It’s been said that men don’t like dating funny women. Is that something you’ve experienced in your dating misadventures? I think I’ve got other stuff going on. But I think men do like to be the funnier one. I dated one guy who said to me, “I’m the funny one in my group.” He would say something, and I would say something to build on it—because all my friends are funny, we just end conversations with a cacophony of laughter—and he would get mad at me if I made a joke that was funnier than his. That’s just one person. But I’m not traditionally beautiful, and I’m funny and I’m Black and I’m in LA. I got a lot of things working against me. I’m not saying any of these are negative. It’s just my truth.
What’s the most surprising place you’ve ever been hit on before? This is hard because sometimes I don’t know I’m being hit on. I was just hit on at the airport by, like, a 60-year-old man in a neck brace. The whole situation was weird. I thought I fell in love in Denver, because this guy was flirting with me at this sandwich shop. Then I invited him to my show and then he brought his girlfriend, so I was like, maybe he was just trying to sell me a f*cking sandwich. My radar is so off.
Have you always had as much confidence as you do now? Was that something you ever wrestled with? When I was younger, yeah. I grew up in an all-white town where I was like the only Black girl. It was me, my sister and three other people, and I was fat and zitty. I never really felt pretty. But I worked at Lane Bryant, which is a fat lady store. I remember my manager … said to me, “Your clothes are too tight. You can’t wear things that are that tight.” And I was like, “What? Are we afraid that the other fats are gonna know I’m fat?” From that moment on, I was like, I’m gonna wear my arms out. I’m gonna wear belly shirts. I’m gonna wear shorts, because what am I hiding for? Who am I hiding for? My body is not for everybody else’s consumption. My body is for me to get from point A to point B. I can look in the mirror and choose to like what I see. If I don’t, I can change it.
You’re the first Black woman to be nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality TV or Competitive Series Host. What do you hope that says to other Black girls aspiring to come up? I hope that more production companies cast people who look different than them because the two people who cast me were two white people who took a chance on me. They put me and [Nailed It! host] Jacques [Torres], this white French man, together and it happened to just work. I hope that there’s room for others at the table. And I don’t want it to be like that spot is taken. Like there can’t be more Black hosts doing stuff because Nicole’s doing it. I want them to be like, “Nicole does this and has fun. We should try to find more like her.” I hope people who want to be doing what I’m doing, continue to pursue it, because I’m having a blast. I have such a fun job.
If you could be on a reality TV show as a contestant, what would you be on? I think I would do pretty good at [Ru Paul’s] Drag Race. I was on three or four seasons, I’ve done a couple episodes. They’ve been so wonderful and kind to me, and I’m such a huge fan that the first time I was there, I was like, “Do not embarrass yourself.” I think I could win.
Have you seen RuPaul’s Drag Race Live here in Vegas? Of course I have! I went with a bunch of friends and Shannel was hosting. It was great. That was one of the times I flew in, then drove back with my poor friends and had honestly the best ride back. The show is incredible.
On Twitter, you’ve spoken about unscripted shows needing more union protection. Can you talk a bit more about that? I will say this as someone who’s paid very well and is very thankful for their job: I do not think anything that is on television should be non-union. I was paid $500 an episode for my first season of Girl Code, and that ended up being a hit that they aired over and over. I never saw a penny in residuals. A lot of people’s reasoning is exposure, and it’s like, sure, I did start touring and doing stand-up, but why am I doing double the work to make the money that I could have just made being on television?
Second season, we were talking about jobs, and I was like, “I’m on TV, and I still babysit,” and they aired that because they thought it was funny. It’s not funny. It’s not nice to be like, “Here’s a little chunk of change, people get to see you on TV, but you can’t even pay your bills.” Pay people adequately, give them the exposure and then maybe they can live in between jobs and not have to hustle.
Also with Girl Code, they did a whole book. They aired it over and over. I was writing on that show. Why wasn’t I WGA[Writers Guild of America]? To me, it’s a little f*cked up. I also think reality television in general needs a union because they don’t pay the people on those shows. Like those dating shows? They get stipends, and they don’t get paid well. In some things, you don’t get paid unless you make it to the screen. So why is reality television, which is a huge moneymaker, one of the last places where there’s a union? All the cast members on 90 Day Fiance have Cameos and Only Fans. You shouldn’t have to show your toes, you’re on TV!
More comedians—like yourself—are starting to tour during the strike, as long as they’re not taping specials. Do you think we’ll see more of that? Oh, yeah, baby. People who like to work like to work. Honestly, there’s nothing like a live audience. I get why comics who predominantly work in television are like, “Let me f*cking hit the road and see what’s up there again.” I don’t think it’s gonna end.
NICOLE BYER August 26, 8 p.m., $32-$87. The Chelsea, ticketmaster.com.
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