Nick Viall and his wife, Natalie Joy, were so excited to celebrate their recent wedding with a tropical honeymoon getaway in Turks and Caicos until a “nightmare” travel experience ruined their plans.
“We’re on no sleep [and] we brought Natalie’s mom with us to babysit for our honeymoon with the goal being, logistically, as much as we spend all of our time with our daughter and we love every minute of it, but it’s our honeymoon,” Viall, 43, said during the Thursday, May 2, episode of his “Viall Files” podcast. “We were hoping to connect and have some quality time and we’re so lucky to have Natalie’s mom [come with us.]”
Viall, Joy, 25, and her mom traveled with baby River Rose, 3 months, to Turks and Caicos. Once their plane landed and they made their way to the customs checkpoint, their itinerary hit a snag.
“We have a nice flight, River’s fine [and] we get to Turks and Caicos. [Our] honeymoon’s about to start,” the former Bachelor recalled. “We go as a family to customs check-in or whatever [and] go to the agent, hand them all our passports.”
After Joy’s mother got her travel documents stamped, she moved on to get the group’s luggage. The newlyweds, however, stayed behind, waiting for their own passports to get stamped.
“The agent stamps the passport, we don’t know which passport at this point,” he said. “[They are] about to hand it back, looks at it and goes, ‘There’s a page torn here.’ And we’re like, ‘Huh? I don’t know.’”
Viall and Joy were then ushered to a private room, where they were told they were not allowed to enter the country since Joy’s passport had a ripped page.
“This was really a moment where Nick and I got to — not only did we have River in our arms and have to hold it together for our daughter — but also it really challenged us as husband and wife,” Joy said. “It was the first thing we had to conquer as husband and wife.”
At the time, Joy was “sobbing” that their honeymoon was being interrupted while Viall tried to remain cool.
“I was like, ‘It’s going to be OK. We’re gonna get a lecture of some kind and clearly we’re gonna be fine,’” Viall added, revealing they were then informed that they were being sent back to the United States. “[The agent] looked at me and was like, ‘Are you still going to go to your hotel?’ I’m like, ‘I’m not leaving my wife.’”
He continued, “Natalie’s crying and I appear calm but I’m radiating with anxiety. I’m telling myself, ‘You’re two days on the f—king job. Time to be a husband. It’s your time to step up and stay calm. Everything’s going to be fine.’”
Viall further stressed that “in that moment” the situation “felt like a nightmare.”
“We booked these nonrefundable [tickets]. We went for it,” he added, breaking down in tears. “We decided to make an investment in our honeymoon and … it was so chaotic, [but] I got so many opportunities to call Natalie my wife and that was great. I was like, ‘I’m not leaving my wife,’ ‘I got my wife here.’”
Viall, Joy and their family members were rebooked on “the next flight out.” However, after a six-hour aircraft delay, the flight was canceled following a maintenance issue. Delta Airlines put the group up at a local hotel for a single night.
“It could have been much worse [and] we had one night,” Viall said, gushing over their honeymoon dinner at the airport hotel restaurant.
Viall and Joy are now planning a second honeymoon in the near future but have yet to make a travel itinerary.
