BILFPOD - Millions Know His Name. Here’s The Real Nicholas Vans

Episode Date: June 25, 2026

Nic Vans, Love Island USA's breakout star, sits down with The BilfPod for one of the most unfiltered conversations yet. From walking into a Fiji villa with no phone and no clue to selling out Vegas residencies and doing 50-60 shows in 3 months — Nic holds nothing back. We get into how Love Island completely changed his life overnight, why he credits the show as his career catapult, and much more. Oh, and he almost became a nurse doing aesthetics. Yeah, we said what we said. If you think you know Nic Vans, you don't. Not yet. 🔔 Subscribe so you never miss a BILF moment. 👍 Like, comment, share — you know what to do.

What's the wildest thing that happened that you didn't expect to happen? Besides falling in love. Off camera, there was like, you know, someone punched the hole in the wall at one point. That was pretty crazy. Welcome back to the BILF pod. We're Authenticity Trump's authority. So if you're a little confused about BILF stands for or what we do, we love to showcase bosses in their own right, from women in the boardroom to icons to reality TV stars.

Well, I am super stoked today. even though you can't be offended that I've never watched your show. You're not offended, right? You're too busy doing business. Yeah, Belfing. I'm Belfing. I'm Belfing out over here. Yeah, so I, but I'm really excited because from what I understand, like, you're an icon right now.

So welcome to the show, Nick. Woo! Yeah. I know you're so excited. This is like Nick's highlight that he came to the Bilt today. Yeah, thank you for having me. Well, thanks for coming. So, all right, we're going to just get into it.

You ready? Cool, let's do it. All right, so I'll try to be not inappropriate. I mean, yeah, whatever. But I'm a little inappropriate, but it's okay. All right, so as somebody that really has never watched the show, I'm really just curious about the backstory. Prior to getting on reality TV.

Well, how does one choose that they want to go into reality TV? It wasn't much of a choice. They reached out, and it was kind of just a joke at first. And I kept doing the interview process and kept messing around just being myself, goofy. And it just kept getting further and further. and then I was doing medical tests and psych evaluations, and then all of a sudden I was in Fiji, and it didn't even feel real until I was in the house.

But prior to that, you were a nurse? Yes, and a model, mostly. A nurse model, or a model who was a nurse? It was more like nurse than model. Get my degree, get my license, become a model, and then was doing that for a few years. So not only are you good-looking, but you have brains too. So beauty and brains.

It's been a while since I graduated, but yeah. It's okay. I mean, listen, you had to do what you got to do. So you get on reality TV and you blow up, you become like a huge icon right now. Like you're this huge heartthrob. I know like my daughter, her friends, everybody I know watches this show. Okay. So prior, now I would ask you a lot of questions about Love Island,

but I'm really curious about what the show has done for you. Yeah, so I think what I didn't realize going into the show was that, you know, the whole purpose of it is to find love and be in this house in Fiji. But the, I think I didn't know about the rewards that it would reap afterwards. and how much of like business was incorporated into it and how it's become like my full-time career and job now. What, just being like an icon after or just going into DJing? Yeah, going into DJing, going into social media, YouTube, pursuing streaming

and so many like different avenues that the show gives you a platform to be on. And yeah, like you said, DJing making music. There's just so many, so much opportunity acting as well. Yeah, what was your, like prior to doing this, Did you always have a passion for DJing? Yeah, music's been like a big thing of mine. I was in a fraternity in college. Which fraternity?

Delta Ta Delta. Are you familiar? I mean, I know a little bit. Okay. I know Delta, Delta, Delta. How can I help you, help you? I know that kind of stuff. Yeah.

I went to FAU and Boka, so that was like... I went to FAU. No way. Yeah, but I'm much older than you. So I went like, it doesn't matter when I went. Graduated in 2020? I love you. You're in my...

I graduated in 2020. So we're only three years apart. But I did go. for my master's for a little bit. Okay. For what? Criminal justice. And you didn't, you decided not to do? I, it wasn't that. It was that the economy happened and I ended up going in the sales route

and the sales route just I've been there ever since. Well, everything happens for a reason? I think so. I don't know that I see you as a cop or a judge. A cop, an attorney. You can't see attorney? A cop. I don't know. I wouldn't be a horrible cop. I would not, I'd be like you can go. You're, maybe you can stay. You can go. I wouldn't be a bad cop. Yeah. I would be, I think I'd be a, a, I think I'd be a, a criminal defense. I would be a, I don't. I don't

crooked cop. I hope I don't get canceled. No, me too, though. For sure, right? I'd be like, you look good and we won't arrest you. If I'm finding a house full of money, like, they're just never reporting that. Just a little bit. It's not going to hurt. Who cares? Who cares? No, nobody, who cares? So, okay, so going back into it, so now you're doing this whole

DJing thing and you're utilizing this from, like, do you think this would ever happen if you weren't on Love Island? I think that Love Island is a cataple and, like, it just boosts your career so much quicker, and I think the whole process of becoming a and making music that becomes popular and DJing like in Vegas at these

residencies would take years and years and years and I'm not like a shame to admit that I know I have a lot of respect for upcoming artists and new artists that are working and putting so much work in and but I'm just grateful again to like have that show to be the catalyst to you know quick success I can be like Polly D yeah Polly D is the blueprint I love him he really is in the music industry I love him so much and he well I mean it was smart Look, a lot of people, there are many people that go on reality TV, and they kind of don't use it to their advantage, right?

You become this, because everything wears off. Everything has a shelf life. Yeah. So it's smart to capitalize on it now so you can catapult to you, like you said, for the future, and the future really is endless for you. So that's really. Hopefully endless. And I think coming off the show, you know, you're told all the time,

you have to strike while the iron's hot. And I didn't even realize that there would be an iron after the show because you're in that show with no phone, no family. You don't know what's going on in the outside and you don't know how successful it is. And so when you get off, it's like, okay, we're going to hit the road. You know, me, my buddy, who are my friends now, Mike and Corey, we did a lot of like bookings afterwards. And I think we probably did, I think, 50 to 60 shows right after the show was over for, you know, in a span of three months visiting cities five times a week, six times a week.

So it was very intense. So it was like literally overnight. What's that like going from like leading an ordinary life to like this whole, the whole world knows who you are. Yeah. I guess I'm the only one. No. I mean, I know that. Except for you.

Except for the BILF. The BILF didn't know. The BILF, I know. I know. I'm going to watch it. I'm going to watch it. I'm going to watch it. I was going to try last night.

I was going to try to watch a little bit, but then I just got sidetracked and I didn't. But I did, I did go on Instagram this morning and I went on YouTube and looked up a whole bunch of interviews that you did. That's good, though. Yeah. That's good. That's good. That's good.

I feel like that's like a stuff in the right direction. That's more than enough. So, but how is it? Like, what's it like going from being, you know, just an ordinary nick to now a whole sensation throughout the world? Yeah. I mean, thank you. That's kind.

Sensation out of the world is crazy. But it's insane. Overnight you, you start with, you know, nobody really knows you and you come out. And now all of a sudden you can't go to like a Publix or Walgreens or movie theater grocery store without getting noticed. Yeah. So, I mean, that's pretty crazy. I think what I didn't realize was the effect that I would have on my family and friends.

You know, not you yourself don't have a spotlight, but now it's like your family and their actions and their jobs and your distant family. And it's just so many things you never think about that comes with all of the variety. What are your parents think about this? I'm curious. Yeah, I mean, my dad's very conservative in the way that he, like, you know, my family actually is like going out onto like this reality show where you're kissing a bunch of people. and my mom's like, oh, that's a little bit much. But I think afterwards I saw all these videos that my sister would take of them, and they were just so excited for me. And when I kissed my current girlfriend, Alandria,

and she all of a sudden, like, my dad's freaking out, my mom's freaking out, and everyone's just super excited. Well, they meet her. Well, obviously they didn't know her prior, so then all of a sudden after the show, you come home with a new girlfriend, right? A new girlfriend. And then what? I mean,

I'm, like, I'm home. Here's my new girl. Yeah, exactly. It's like, I guess it's like

going off to the, to war. You don't have your phone and you come back with a girl. Yeah. But, yeah,

I mean, I feel like they knew her because, you know, we were being filmed 35 hours total. So they were watching, like,

a lot of footage of us. So, I think they, like, kind of had a connection through there. Nice. What's that like,

like, being, being in this world of like, your inclusion, right? There's nothing, because actually

I did try out for a reality TV show. Nobody knows this. Which one? I'm not going to tell you. I'll tell you after. Can I guess? No, I'm not going to tell you. Can I guess? Yes, I'll blink twice. Is it housewives? No, I didn't. I'm not a housewife. No, I would do housewise, but no, it wasn't. It's a Netflix show that's out. There's only two seasons of it, but I, like, they told me it would have to go to an island.

I couldn't have connections to my family at all. There was a psych evaluation, which I thought was crazy to begin with. That could only be so many. Is it a dating show? No, it's not a dating show. I don't think my husband would have happy if it was a dating show. Maybe. He probably would be happy. He'd be like, thank God I got rid of her.

But no. But being in like an inclusion, you're all, it's like, you're secluded from the rest of the world. How many months are you there doing that? From start to finish, you'd be there if you don't get kicked off for two months. And what are you telling people where you are? You just disappear. Some of them, you don't know.

Some of them, you just drop off the face of the earth. But you can't really tell too many people because, you know, you sign your life a little bit. Your NDA, yeah. Yeah, and so, I mean, they don't really know where you are. Actually, that's not true. I had a social media manager posting stuff from the villa. Oh, so you are allowed to do a little bit? Yeah, just like the rev-up kind of thing, like the teaser, they say.

And then throughout the show, there's, like, a photographer who will send photos to the guy handling your socials and you can post throughout. So they kind of, you know. A little bit. So what's the biggest takeaway that you got from going on the show? I think I would say the confidence you know when you walk into there it's four you know

you have 400 cameras all around you filming you at all times all throughout the night showering doing everything and I think that broke down a lot of my like insecurity about what people think and so I think moving forward not just through like you know

business but like with friendships and making new friends and talking to people and talking to celebrities it just had so much more confidence and how I move around Yeah, I'm sure. It's probably a totally different world. Again, you're going from, like, an ordinary life. And then here you are. There's cameras everywhere. It's super invades. Yeah, here. Yeah, super invade. It's invasive. What do you think is, like, the biggest misconception people think about you? Um, hmm. I think maybe the biggest, Corey Q, home me out here. I don't really know. you're true bad.

Maybe that's a real... Did you have like the... Oh, actually that's a good idea. That's a good idea. Yeah. I mean, yeah, I think people would think that you kind of just... DJing is cool, so like, let me take this and run with the cool image, but is this something... Yeah, I think that's a good one.

I think like a common misconception after the show is, you know, I immediately got into DJing. And I think people would question, like, my passion for music and question the passion I have for DJing. But when you go back in my Rolodex in music festivals, and concerts and all that. And there's timelines on all these photos and videos. It went way back before the show. So I think that passion had always been there. What's your favorite genre of music?

I love like EDM and dubstep, but I type into the rap and the country and the rock. I'm very like multifaceted in music. Ecclectic if you will. Ecclectic, okay, all right. Smart, good looking, eclectic. All right, we're adding to your resume here. That's amazing.

So okay, so now you're doing this DJ thing. you're going on tour? Yes. This is my second tour now. So it consists of, I think, maybe about 20 cities in the next two months. And then, yeah, we're doing

like music festivals and clubs and, you know, all sorts of different private events and corporate events. Yeah. What's that like for you? That bilf money. You need that bilf money.

You got to be smart with your bilf money though. Yes, you do. So after DJ, here's a good question for you. After DJing, because again, everything has a shelf life unless you're Polly D. Of course, shout out to Polly Dio.

Shout out Polly. I love him. But after DJing, like, what are you going to do? I mean, hopefully it continues and it progresses. And, you know, I'm starting to make more music. And, you know, once, you know, Drizzie Drake is probably the end goal here, right? So, you know, when you have streams like that, hopefully another career won't be needed. Yeah.

You can always be a nurse again. There's always plan B. Like, be a nurse. I want to open a med spa. Oh, I would like that. Can I go to your med spa? Absolutely. You'll give me a discount for, like, a good,

Absolutely. Okay, because I love meds spots. I know you can inject me, pluck me, stick me. Doesn't matter. I love it. I love the meds ball. I think actually, originally that's why I became a nurse so I could do injections.

That's what you wanted to do? I wanted to get into aesthetics, yeah. I love that for you. I like you even more now that you're doing that. How many Cs you want? Just make them bigger every single time. It doesn't matter. No, no, I meant Botan.

Oh, okay. I thought you might. Unit. I don't know. Whatever. Unit C, you know, whatever. It's all the same thing. My bad.

Okay, so people that are on Love Island. I know like some people actually did. My PR people called me and they were like, you have to ask these specific questions. So they wanted to know what advice you would have for somebody or the cast now. Yeah, I would say to the cast now, being original and authentic speaks through the TV more than trying to put on an act. You know, whether it be, you know, for followers or for clout,

like just go on there, be yourself, people will love you and gravitate and attract to you. And, you know, I think that'll make you, the most successful during and after the show. Is reality TV scripted? Do they ever say, all right, redo that? No. Are you not allowed to say that?

No, I mean, I can say. No, actually, it's very unscripted. And, you know, you're just going in and maybe, I don't know if I want to go too much into this, but, you know, you're just, they make you think about your emotions a lot. It's not scripted, but, you know, you talk about your emotions. Yeah, it's. It's more like therapy almost.

They want you to talk about your feelings and emotions and speak on things that maybe some people wouldn't speak on. Is that somebody that you are? That somebody that talks about, their emotions are not really. I would say to the people I'm close with, I'll be confrontational. Maybe that's not the right word, but conversational with my emotions and sharing with others.

I'm not afraid to do that. Okay. You mean like conversational? Confrontational means like you want to fight with somebody. Maybe like not as aggressive. Yeah. Maybe like less. That's what it felt wrong when I said it.

And this is not scripted. Okay, what about, like, what's the wildest, if you can't talk about it? Like, what's the wildest thing that happened that you didn't expect to happen, besides falling in love? But, like, wildest thing that happened, somebody, like, lose their shit there, like, come unraveled. Like, what's the craziest thing? Yeah, I mean, I'll say this, like, that wasn't aired, you know, off camera, there was, like, you know, someone punched the hole in the wall at one point. That was pretty crazy. Wow.

And just a lot of things like didn't don't get aired and it's it's Actually I don't want to talk about that either, but you know the hole in the wall is pretty crazy What else? What was the question again? I got lost like what is it? No like what's the craziest thing that happened? You don't have to mention any names or say anything It could be like somebody like losing their shit coming unraveled you know somebody whatever something crazy i mean just crazy was every challenge that we did you had it watched but for example there was there was three bases in this baseball challenge and each base had it was like a bathtub filled with buttery popcorn and there were popsicles and stuff like deep in

the buttery popcorn and you and you're you know you and this girl that you just met like a week ago had to go find the baseball or popsicle in the buttery popcorn hold it with your mouth and like put the other girl's mouth and like bring it out of the pit out of the bathtub of popcorn so when you you know you have like all this all these like ass in your face and like mouth like saliva all over like it was butter all over you is crazy I mean was there ever a moment you were like wait let me just rethink what I'm doing like I want to get the fuck out of here this is not what I really want to do yeah no I mean for the first two weeks you're just thinking of yourself like what did I get myself into you're losing sleep you're you know you got butter in your

butt crack from like two days ago. No, I'm joking, but there's like all the slime from all these challenges. But then after two and a half weeks, like you go into those challenges after two and half weeks and you're just like, okay, I'm clocking in. Like this is, this is work now. So that's, I mean, it sounds like a good time. You're just going to have fun. So what about the relationships? Did you end up like becoming like good friends with people after the show or like? Yeah. Like when you're when you're on the show, it's like truly everyone's like your family and everyone's super close. You know, it's not really like a show that's meant to, you know, fight your cast. It's, you know, you're in there together to find love, to have fun.

Do those popcorn buttery challenges. You must have really liked that. This is like the third time you mentioned this popcorn. I wish we could do that here. Maybe, Corey, maybe you can get us like a bucket of like popcorn and like you can show me this challenge. Now I'm going to go have to watch this. Yeah, you should watch that episode. It's actually pretty entertaining.

I'm going to, now I'm definitely going to do it. So for the cast now, okay, if you could give them, besides being authentic, if you could give them like some words of wisdom, what would they be? Be freaky-d-key. I think people. Take full advantage. Take full, hey, you're there, you know, you're there to find love. Explore your options. Don't be committed too early to one, you know, one girl.

Like definitely take your time to keep exploring different opportunities. And then what else? yeah just i mean commit to it like when you're in the challenges go all in when you know you're having conversation about your feelings don't hold anything back things like that and what was the greatest lesson that you walked away with i would say what i said earlier that the confidence thing that was the greatest so do you think now in your in your day-to-day life like what tools have you do you utilize now you have like a whole business going you have a brand going so what tools are you using to keep the high energy going.

Like I see you came in here. You said you had just rolled out of bed. I would have never known your high energy, great personality. Is there something that you do to get you going? I mean, besides, eye drops in caffeine, no. I would say having like a strong team behind me, like I wouldn't be able to do it without, you know, my agents, without Corey Mike and without a lot of my friends just support me. They'll come on the road.

They'll help me, you know, sell my merch. They'll help me, you know, last night. We had a, I don't remember, 300 shirts. We had to bring into the villa, which is this bar where we do like Love Island watch parties. And, you know, we're traveling on the road. You know, my friends are driving. It's just a, it's like a whole ecosystem. Yeah, for sure.

You have to have a small village. It takes a village to put. I'm sure you understand with, you know, 50,000 employees. Yeah, it takes a lot. I mean, just in general, it takes a lot to get all this going. But they say, like, as you climb to the top, it gets lonely. Has there been moments where you had to get rid of some people that were within your inner circle or just around you that you were like, mm-mm, can't come with me? I've been fortunate enough to a lot of my inner circle has stuck with me.

Because, you know, I love my friends from before the show. Yeah. Like, we're so tight. But on the business side of things after the show, for sure, there's been, you know, some switches and teams and changes. And, you know, when money gets involved, people start acting weird. Really weird. Yeah, it's just straight. I would say if I could give you advice is I would say you know just be careful who you surround yourself with people show their colors and the you know the higher you get it gets lonely at the top so just be real selective about who's in your inner circle for sure so you'll see that on your own how old are you I just turned 25 oh you're young you have a whole long time to go so this must be incredible for you yeah yeah it's I mean it's exciting age to like have this all come to me I'm glad it wasn't too younger you know I don't want to

Disney star myself, but... I don't want you to Disney star yourself either. What do you want your... What do you want the takeaway for your children and your grandchildren to know about you? I think my work ethic, I think something I respect about my dad is his work ethic as well as his honesty. Like, man has never lied to me in my life. So, you know, when all these business opportunities come, I bring it to him and he'll tell me straight up versus, you know, like a manager. I'm not saying my manager did that, but in general,

Like he'll always have my best interest in me and never asks for a dollar for me, so. Yeah, your family, especially your parents will always be, they'll always want more for you than they ever want for themselves. That's a fact. I know that as a parent too. And I would like to be a mirror of that to my kids. Grandkids, that's a far time of me. Are you going to let them watch the show? My kids?

Your kids, yeah. I've never been asked that, but no. Not until the age of 15 maybe. No, you're not going to, you got to show them. No, that is definitely like some PG-13, almost, I would say rated R. I'm going to have to really check this show. I mean, you're buttery popcorn, rated R stuff going on. I think you're going to freak out.

Like, I think it's, like, crazier than you think. Really? Yeah, yeah. I don't know. That show's like damn ears. Would you go on another reality TV show? Not a dating one, but I am trying to go on dancing with the stars. I don't know if you've heard of it before.

Yeah, no, I know. Yes, I know. You look like Gleb a little bit. Gleb? Gleb. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, I would love to. That's the goal. Can you dance? Hell no. No, you can't? Not at all. So why would you ever want to go on there? I'm trying to learn how to dance.

I want to become great. I do. I dance a lot at my shows and people, you know, I see on Twitter threads the next day that about my moves and, you know, the people are clowning me. They're clowning you about your movement. Absolutely. Absolutely. Like the-like my shoulders and hips just don't move right. Like, it's not good.

It's a terrible situation for you. What do you think is one of your greatest secret talents that you have? Do you play basketball? I heard that I read, I was watching some Instagram something where they were talking about basketball and can you play basketball? I love basketball. I can play basketball.

I played in the NBA celebrity game. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I scored two points. That's good. I mean, it was better than no points. Yeah, yeah, it was on an ex-MBA. Actually, I heard you had Jason Williams on your podcast. I didn't have Jason Williams.

Jason Williams happens to be my daughter's best friend's dad. Yeah. Okay. daughter's best friend's dad yeah yeah he hasn't been on yet okay I'm a little I'm a little you know skeptical about bringing white chocolate on I don't know he's a lot he's an icon for me yeah white chocolate was my teammate for the game and so I got to like meet him and talk to him I mean dude's like such a character I love him he is definitely a character yeah he is did you have fun doing

that absolutely what do you think is like now that you're in the celebrity status has there ever been anybody that you've met along the way so far that you were like really star-struck by. I think I met a lot of the Knicks players and it's cool like they're in the... They just happen to be in the championship now so hopefully they win the trophy when this come out, maybe they'll have a ring.

Are you a Nick fan or no? Yeah, Nixiae. Yeah? But where did you grow up? Didn't you grow up in Florida? Miami. You're from Miami. I'm a heat fan too, but... I'm from Fort Lauderdale. Okay, I'm about a move to Fort Lauderdale. I like Fort Lauderdale. I love it. I'm not from the 305.

That was like a big thing. Like you put in... I'm from the 954. Yeah, like originally, not 754. Broward, baby. I'm 100% Browardt. I went to Fort Lauderdale High School. I was born and raised there. Yeah, Fort Lauderdale.

Love it there. Nice. I don't think there's any... Do you think you'll move anywhere else outside of Florida? I would say Florida, like, it has its own sort of people. I love it. You just can't replicate it anywhere. Oh, okay, that's fun.

Anything else? Any, like any books in the works? Any, anything? More podcasts? Maybe you want to come on the BILF again? I don't know. I'll come on the BILF. You can come on the BILF?

See, Corey? He said he's going to come back on the bill. I know he's so excited to come today. No, I might be starting my own podcast. Fun. I might be starting a frozen meatball line because... Pupptides, maybe. Oh, yeah, shout out Puptides.

Peptides for puppies. I heard you really like dogs in you, and you're definitely going to give your dogs pup tides. Yeah, I will be... Well, I'll be giving my parents dogs pup tides. You know, long life, happy life, pup tides. That's a ton of the work.

Okay, and I mean, I don't think that people have a problem. find you, but if somebody wanted to find you, where would they find you? Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Twitch, threads, Twitter, all Nicholas Vans. You're like everywhere, huh? Yeah, yeah. Everywhere. There's like billboards, I'm sure, with your face on it. Maybe.

Modeling, wait, you know there is one thing I did see, but now I'm putting two and two together. You did something with Kim Kardashian, didn't you do like a little modeling situation? Yes, we did a Hot Santa. I'm jealous. Their skims line for their Christmas special. Yeah, it was cool. I got to meet like Snoop Dog, Chris. You know, I love Snoop Dog.

This is my, like, my rider die. I feel like your friend is a Snoop Dog for a season. I love Snoop Dog. Like, you have, I'll go to the end of the earth. I feel like you, Martha Stewart and Snoop Dog in a room would be funny. Yeah, thanks. Yeah, the three of us together. Yeah, thank.

You didn't have to throw Martha in there. They're like best friends with him. Just kidding. Yeah. I appreciate you. I know this was probably, no, I think you had a good time. I had a good time. It was a good time. I was going to say this last thing you want to do.

You're cool. But now I think it's like the first thing. And if you need a job, I can help you. With what? I can help you. Do you want to sell insurance? Have you ever sold anything? Yeah, I actually did door-to-door sales, pest control. Pest control? This is phone sales, much easier.

So much easier. And I'll give you the leads. You just have to. Yeah, but I think if actually we should test this. I'll get you in the pits right now. We'll say it's you and you can sell health insurance. Yeah, maybe they'll buy. They definitely everyone will buy.

I feel like they will. You can be a billf. So health insurance. That's how I made my Biltz money. It was such a pleasure. If you listen to today's episode, I mean, please tune in to see more episodes. If you like today's episode, go ahead, like, subscribe, un-subscribed, un-subscribed, say something, do something. But, Nick, you're amazing. Thank you for joining me today.

Thanks, Belf, Mama.