Nick Lachey Tries to Keep It ‘Switzerland’ on Perfect Match

On the surface, it seems that Nick Lachey was fated to become the face of Netflix’s universe of reality-dating shows. As a former pop singer and reality-TV star himself, who better to usher in the next generation of reality-TV stars on Love Is Blind, The Ultimatum, and Perfect Match? If you ask him directly, though, he’ll give a more reasonable answer. In 2018, Lachey and his wife, Vanessa, were pitching a show to Netflix when an upcoming series called Love Is Blind came up. The couple thought the idea, from the sick and twisted mind of Chis Coelen, was a “really cool, unconventional, fresh concept” for a dating show and joined to co-host. Now the couple has also hosted The Ultimatum, a spinoff series that is a brutal cross between an intervention and partner swap, and Nick went on to solo host the strategy-competition dating show, Perfect Match. Four years later, Nick has ushered hundreds of singles through Netflix’s love-industrial complex. He’s spent countless hours with people like Bartise Bowden, Shake Chatterjee, and Irina Solomonova and still signs up for more? Some people are just built different!

What sets Lachey apart from an Andy Cohen–type host is his aversion to the drama. His good-natured demeanor and self-proclaimed “Switzerland”-like neutrality allow him to keep clear of controversy and navigate the tears, fights, and accusations without getting entangled in them, which served him well in this messy, amped-up second season of Perfect Match. While the season wrapped and the winning couple actually made it to their Netflix-sponsored vacation, unlike season one’s winning couple, everyone is buzzing from the revelation that Harry lied to Jess and did kiss Melinda off-camera. Lachey took a moment from his family vacation in Greece to parse the remaining gossip.

What’s it like to be around all these young people as they’re breaking into reality television? Do they understand that you’ve experienced a lot of the same things they’re currently going through?
There are times when I step onto the set and I feel very much like Dad. When I was in reality TV, it was a new form, we didn’t have the pressures of social media that’s reflected in Perfect Match. That’s a world that they all understand much better than I ever will. I can speak to the trappings of reality TV, of being in the public eye. I encourage everyone just to not read too much into it, especially as it relates to social media. It can be such a nasty animal at times, so I always encourage people to take it all with a grain of salt. Don’t believe everything you read and stay true to yourself.

I remember having talks with Harry in the past season. He was slated to compete on Dancing With the Stars, and I had already done that, so we had a couple conversations about that and how to prepare. More than anything I just try to keep it light, and no matter what show I’m hosting, I always try to be a soundboard for whoever wants to pick my brain. Whatever limited wisdom I’ve acquired over the years, I’m happy to share with anybody.

Do you feel protective of the cast? I’m thinking of one moment where Alara gets upset and she’s walking toward the hallway as you’re walking out the door and there’s this moment where you notice and it looks like you’re about to say something and then you maybe think better of it and let it go. And it struck me then it’s like, Wow, he spends time with these people. It’s probably hard to watch them go through tough times while filming.
Certainly it is. You develop genuine connections and feelings about people and want the best for them, and it doesn’t always work out. It is sometimes tough to take a Switzerland approach and be neutral because there are genuine feelings and concerns. I always try to remind myself that my role in this is to be impartial and stay out of it.

I was surprised that Christine and Nigel won. Why do you think so many people voted for them when there were couples who had been around much longer?
In season one we Joey and Kariselle together pretty much the entire run of season one and ended up getting engaged. It just felt maybe it felt like too much of the obvious choice, but I certainly don’t have a vote in that. How people vote and why they vote, I could speculate as much as you could, but I think there may be something to people who don’t have an opportunity to kind of mix it up being together for such a long time, maybe there’s some kind of a fatigue effect that works against them. I was surprised that that’s how the vote came down as well.

Who was the most surprising couple to match up?
Micah and Izzy, just because I’ve known them from Love Is Blind. It was a Hey, I’m still here kind of thing. I was like, Oh, wow, okay. Didn’t see that coming.

Any cast members that you hoped had gotten together?
I love Jessica because I remember the very first time that she walked onto the Love Is Blind set, she told Vanessa and I that she had a daughter, and I just thought, Man, that’s such a unique, cool perspective and storyline for this show. I was really kind of rooting for her through Love Is Blind and again on Perfect Match to find somebody. Then she gets with Harry. They obviously have a lot of chemistry, so I was excited to see the two of them. I like Harry. There’s no more charismatic person on the planet than that guy.

How do you stay up to date with the drama going on in the house? Do the producers fill you in? Do the cast members ever come to you with gossip?
No, it’s not like that at all. I’m not around 24/7 to see all that transpires. The producers do a great job of keeping me in the loop with daily briefings and how things are going down. I’m totally invested in what’s happening and trying to stay as on top of it as I can so I can be educated into what’s happening when I come to meet the cast.

Which of the guys this season was most like you at that age? 
[Laughs.] I’m not much of a playboy, even though people might think otherwise, being in a boy band. I go back to my guy Izzy. I always loved Izzy, going back to Love Is Blind, I felt he had a good heart. It didn’t necessarily work out for him on this show, but I could certainly identify with him. Then Harry would be the opposite. He is a total playboy, and I’ve never felt like I was that guy at all.

Were you disappointed by Harry’s behavior this season? His treatment of Jess and Melinda, in particular, felt notable to me, especially with the reveal at the very end that Harry lied about what happened.
Harry was very outspoken about the fact that he had a certain reputation coming into the show and he was looking to change that reputation. I’m not sure that this show did that for him. In fact, I think it probably just solidified what his reputation coming in was and that he was a bit of a playboy. I mean, disappointed is a strong word. I’m not disappointed. We are who we are and at the end of the day. He has to answer for his behavior. I’m not sure he got out of it what he expected to. But that’s also life.