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The Viall Files

E1107 Ask Nick - He Is Perfect… But He Has a Girlfriend

13 Apr 2026

Transcription

Chapter 1: What challenges does Caller One face with a perfect guy who has a girlfriend?

0.031 - 16.694 Nick Viall

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16.754 - 52.395 Nick Viall

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52.495 - 70.941 Nick Viall

Now you get 120 nights. They know you're going to love it. So if 20 more free nights of sleep help you get that decision, well, they're happy to give it to you. You also get a 10- to 15-year warranty depending on the mattress so you know you are covered. It seems like our mattress is as good as new. I've had my first Helix mattress six years ago. Absolutely obsessed with it. Still love it.

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71.221 - 90.435 Nick Viall

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90.475 - 113.19 Nick Viall

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113.29 - 135.709 Nick Viall

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135.689 - 144.511 Nick Viall

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Chapter 2: How does Caller Two navigate their relationship with a complicated past?

144.691 - 163.546 Nick Viall

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163.866 - 181.315 Nick Viall

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181.335 - 204.506 Nick Viall

And now get $25 off your first purchase when you go to therealreal.com. That's F-I-L-E-S. That's therealreal.com to get $25 off. Start shopping now at therealreal.com. Don't forget, Vile Files Plus now offers ad-free episodes for all Vile Files episodes, including Ask Nick, Reality Recap, and Going Deeper Plus.

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204.666 - 226.92 Nick Viall

If you love Ask Nick, you will absolutely love our Ask Nick updates, where you get updates of your favorite calls, our deep dive on all your favorite Reality Recap TV shows, and our Pop Culture Roundup, where we talk about all your favorite pop culture topics that we didn't get to in this week's episode, plus deep dives on our Going Deeper guests and so much more.

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226.98 - 245.042 Nick Viall

All you have to do is go to Vile Files Plus and you will be lucky you did. How's it going?

245.63 - 254.5 Erin

Pretty good. My name is Erin. I am 27. And I finally met a guy that checks all my boxes, but he has a girlfriend.

255.521 - 271.738 Nick Viall

All right. Well, so I'm curious is how did you get to the place of thinking he checks all your boxes? Like, did you meet him? Like, is this like an online profile? Have you become closer and closer with him? Like what's going on that makes you feel?

272.9 - 298.266 Erin

This is, uh, it was a natural meet queue. Um, I just moved from a different city to start, uh, my current schooling program. And we found out that we both moved from the same original city and then ended up in the one we're currently in. So we had that in common. Um, so I haven't known him for very long and, you know, just like interactions and like the coursework and like

298.516 - 301.14 Erin

study groups and stuff like that. We just got along really well.

Chapter 3: What advice does Nick give for managing feelings in a situationship?

301.44 - 320.029 Erin

He had a lot of like attributes that would make me attracted to somebody and things that I'm looking for. So on a whim, I just reached out to him one day and I said, hey, I'm going to be at this coffee shop at this time if you want to come hang out and study and get out of the house because we don't know anybody here. We're both transplants.

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320.049 - 325.277 Erin

So yeah, I was like, if you want to come and he showed up. So that's kind of how that started.

0

325.337 - 327.46 Nick Viall

Did you know he had a girlfriend at this point?

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327.524 - 337.941 Erin

No. Okay. And we had already been in our program for almost two months and had never mentioned a girlfriend or.

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338.001 - 358.498 Nick Viall

Second question. At this point, you didn't know he had a girlfriend, obviously, which prompted you to ask him to meet up coffee. did you think from just your point of view that he, that he was being a little friendly, a little flirty? Did you feel like, yeah, there was some chemistry that he was sharing with you in a way?

358.899 - 363.765 Erin

Enough for me to at least reach out enough for me to have the confidence to reach out.

364.105 - 381.93 Nick Viall

Second question is if he was your boyfriend and he had the exact same relationship in those two months. And again, mostly that relationship, it seemed like your schoolmates or like, you know, how would you, how would you think of his actions?

382.771 - 389.6 Erin

It definitely was like innocent. Like he, there was never any boundaries crossed or like questions or anything like that.

389.64 - 407.404 Nick Viall

I just, I just thought he was totally honest. If I'm just saying not you, but if you're his girlfriend, so you think that like, okay, if this was my boyfriend and he went to a different school and he was like, I'm assuming they probably had some kind of conversations that was like, Hey babe, I'm, I'm, doing this program and I'm studying.

Chapter 4: What are the signs of a healthy relationship as discussed by Caller Three?

483.31 - 484.332 Nick Viall

If you're his girlfriend.

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484.532 - 507.246 Erin

When it came up, it was after. So we had the coffee thing or whatever. Yeah. He was the one that initiated, again, still unaware he has a girlfriend. He initiated like, hey, we're in a nice area. It's evening time. Let's go get a beer. We go and get a beer. Everything's going great. I'm pretty excited at this point. I'm like, wow, this is going so great.

0

508.147 - 517 Erin

Then ever slightly and casually, he goes, oh, yeah, me and my girlfriend. I was just like, what are you doing here with me then?

0

518.33 - 518.971 Unknown

That's a good question.

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518.991 - 540.038 Erin

Didn't make any sense. Yeah, it was a great, I didn't ask that question because I was just like, well, I don't want to, I was like, well, maybe he is like a platonic person and he's like in those comfortable spaces. But I kind of think in regards to how you're thinking that I would be kind of upset if you spent all this time with someone I don't know in a city I don't know.

540.459 - 557.153 Nick Viall

Yeah. I mean, listen, your question, right, is like, hey, this person I kind of am developing a crush on. Has a girlfriend. So, you know, your question is centered around how do I handle this? But ultimately, like, you know, I'm assuming you don't want to be some relationship wrecker.

557.233 - 567.388 Nick Viall

But if he doesn't want to be with his girlfriend and he wants to be with you, you kind of are you're very interested in having this guy become your boyfriend. Right. Right.

567.368 - 591.216 Nick Viall

So you should be very much thinking, you should be very much thinking about if I'm his girlfriend right now and I'm on the other side, how do I, you have a front row, you know, like for example, like every person in a relationship, right? I mean, I mean, I should, but like for the people, I guess may be a better way of saying it for the people in relationships where they're, you know,

592.141 - 610.588 Nick Viall

Things are happening. I'm not sure if, you know, it sounds weird. The things that happen that lead people to go through their partner's phone that they know they shouldn't do, but they do it anyways, right? If you've seen Beauty and the Beast, you know, that glass mirror, you know, where he's like, show me this, you know? And a lot of people in relationships

Chapter 5: How can someone handle feelings for a taken person without crossing boundaries?

631.081 - 657.855 Nick Viall

You have this power. You are watching him. show you exactly how he is as a boyfriend. And I just would like every step of the way, I would ask myself, if I were you, if I'm his girlfriend, am I comfortable with this? Is this how I would want him to treat me? Again, you can make excuses for him. Cause like right now you're doing the kind of the opposite thing. You know, you have a crush on him.

0

658.038 - 677.667 Nick Viall

He's checked some boxes and you are very much trying to give him the benefit of the doubt. Also, partly there's an element of like, you know, you don't want to be a relationship wrecker and you don't want to be that girl. So like, obviously you're like, I didn't know, you know, like, and you've done nothing wrong here. This is not your relationship to protect. You have no reason to be defensive.

0

677.647 - 692.905 Nick Viall

And ultimately, if you guys have chemistry and he realizes maybe he's met someone new that like he wants to explore, he has the right to do that. And it's not a sin. But he how he goes about that really matters. You know, does he deal with his shit at home?

0

693.307 - 717.738 Nick Viall

in a way that makes you think he has high character, that he doesn't make excuses for things, and he's not a monkey going from one branch to another, dipping his toes in the waters with a potential relationship with you, feeling it out, and then playing that game of, I'm not really doing anything wrong, but if my girlfriend was watching, she'd be pretty fucking pissed.

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718.138 - 718.639 Erin

Yeah.

719.362 - 743.85 Erin

yeah it's just i don't know i guess i'm trying to read it the right way because sometimes you know you often think like okay well like to your point no act like physical boundaries have been crossed there hasn't been a lot of inquiry on like what my what i'm looking for like things like that those quite those relationship type questions haven't been asked has he complimented you on your looks ever

744.067 - 767.864 Erin

Not really. I wouldn't say that. However, he did invite me to go hang out with him again. He has invited me to hang out with him again. Like small gestures, I guess. But I guess what I'm kind of trying to understand is, okay, well, maybe he really is just like my friend. He's really just trying to be my friend. You know?

768.225 - 769.787 Nick Viall

I mean, what do you really think?

770.172 - 771.634 Erin

I don't think that's true.

Chapter 6: What are the implications of dating someone still connected to an ex?

822.775 - 825.199 Erin

And like, Like trying to make these like plans with me.

0

825.5 - 826.342 Nick Viall

How old is he?

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826.362 - 827.985 Erin

He is 26.

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828.366 - 828.747 Nick Viall

Okay.

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828.767 - 829.729 Erin

He just turned 26.

830.23 - 854.618 Nick Viall

Yeah. You know, young enough, but like, he's not like, you know, this behavior, the way you're talking. I would cut some slack, you know, if you were like, I'm 21, I'm 19, I'm 20, you know, I'm a sophomore in college. I'd give you some slack because... Or him, I mean, I don't... You've done nothing wrong here. I mean, the only thing I could critique is I think you are...

854.598 - 874.234 Nick Viall

I think you're making some excuses and you're not looking at it through the lens that if I were you, I would to protect yourself. And again, you have a real opportunity to see how this man operates as a boyfriend and you're not seeing it that way because it really doesn't matter what his intentions are. You know, you're doing the game of like, well, I don't really think he means this.

874.254 - 885.993 Nick Viall

And I wonder what he thinks. And you're talking to your girlfriends, guessing everything. his intentions and all that you really need to ask yourself is if I'm his girlfriend, would I be, would I fuck with this? Like, would I be cool with this?

886.614 - 896.529 Erin

Yeah. Yeah. But it's, yeah, I think I just like weighed more into the, like the checking of the boxes rather than like actual context because.

Chapter 7: How does one establish boundaries when co-parenting with an ex?

939.286 - 961.253 Erin

He's really fun. I can tell he likes to get out of the house and do things. And I'm not a homebody myself, so... I mean, I know those are like surface level, but like, you know, those are good. Like the kindness part and like being able to like think about others and then, you know, ambition. Those are important to me.

0

962.074 - 963.516 Unknown

I'm Googling something here.

0

965.879 - 966.68 Erin

What are you Googling?

0

967.38 - 971.205 Nick Viall

What professions cheat the most?

0

972.426 - 976.721 Erin

Isn't it like the three P's? physicians, firefighters, police.

979.351 - 996.672 Nick Viall

Number three is doctors, nurses, and EMTs. And I would say, you know, those are people who, you know, not all, but I think it requires an immense amount of empathy and care and consideration for other people, you know? And so again, I don't think it's a black and white thing.

996.732 - 1018.463 Nick Viall

And I think again, like you could be a police officer, the service industry is up there too, like in service to others, you know, to protect and serve, you know, you can be, there's just a lot of complicated people out there, right. Who have dedicated their lives to the service of others and fill in endeavors and they're just really bad partners.

1018.844 - 1035.214 Nick Viall

So I think it's, you know, I mean, the good thing is that you're saying check the box and I don't think you're too far off because it's just a box you're checking, but you're not really getting to know these people. And as I, you know, I've said in my book, a bunch of, you know, I'm saying my book and I say it a lot of times, but like chemistry is,

1036.477 - 1055.546 Nick Viall

You're describing things that are why you have chemistry with this guy. He's attractive, of course. You're gonna have chemistry with people you find attractive. You're from the same hometown. You have similar stories in terms of what you're pursuing. So common interests creates chemistry. We go to the same church. We were both on The Bachelor together.

Chapter 8: What steps can be taken to ensure emotional health in complex relationships?

1112.672 - 1118.34 Nick Viall

But that's all you really know about him. And I would be careful to make assumptions...

0

1118.455 - 1142.674 Nick Viall

in leaps about his character because they line up with similar things that you're doing he may be the greatest guy of all time and maybe this is a blip and maybe there's some backstory maybe the relationship hasn't been great lately and he's trying to fight it and make it work and like maybe this is a moment of weakness for him but other than that he's a pretty high character guy who's never cheated on his girlfriend but this is a moment where he will have to you know

0

1142.654 - 1161.617 Nick Viall

Like, we've all been there, never cheated. But like, when I look at my entire relationship history, I mean, there are certainly moments where I was like, I definitely shouldn't have, you know, I towed a line there that I shouldn't have towed. And that wasn't, you know, that wasn't my best moment as a boyfriend, you know, or, you know, like we have all, no one's perfect in relationships.

0

1161.677 - 1169.606 Nick Viall

We all, you know, we have moments of weakness. So maybe this is a moment of weakness for him, but I wouldn't be so quick to give him the benefit of the doubt.

0

1170.768 - 1195.899 Erin

Yeah, kind of, probably need to do it. Yeah, tried lightly. And I haven't like intentionally reciprocated. I've just maintained like being nice, especially after that. You know, him saying like, oh, I have this serious girlfriend that I've been with for a year and a half. I was just kind of for me, like I went from, oh, I think like this could lead to something like presenting wise.

1196.339 - 1217.213 Erin

Like in my mind, I was like completely like confused. But I was like, okay, I'm getting friend-zoned right now. This is maybe him trying to set up the boundary. Him mentioning they had a girlfriend? Yeah, maybe that was him just trying to be like, okay, see how this looks. Let me just put this there so that we can proceed forward.

1217.253 - 1225.84 Erin

But then actions following are just kind of like, I don't know, because even when we have breaks for lunch, he's inviting me to go on walks with him and stuff like that.

1226.321 - 1229.023 Nick Viall

So let me ask you, have you ever seen Wolf of Wall Street?

1229.172 - 1234.297 Erin

I don't think I have, which I know is like an American classic and I haven't seen it.

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