Nicole Byer is an American comedian, actress, writer, television host, and podcaster. She is best known as the host of the Netflix comedic realitybake-off series Nailed It!, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. Byer gained recognition for her work in the commentary series Girl Code. Byer later starred in the MTV/Facebook Watch comedy seriesLoosely Exactly Nicole, which was based on her real life experiences. She made several guest appearances in such comedy series as 30 Rock, Family Guy, Transparent, The Good Place, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and The Simpsons. She also appeared in films, including Other People, All About Nina, Bad Hair, and Valley Girl. As of 2017, Byer is the host of the HeadGum podcast Why Won't You Date Me?. In 2019, she began co-hosting the Earwolf podcast Best Friends.
In 2013, Byer and Sasheer Zamata created and starred in a web series called Pursuit of Sexiness which was produced by Upright Citizens Brigade. In 2014, she hosted the first season of MTV's Are You the One? The Aftermatch Live, an after-show for Are You the One?. Byer appeared in several roles on network television in 2016. That year, she had supporting roles on three shows: MTV's commentary show Girl Code; a hidden camera prank show Ladylike, also on MTV; and she was a series regular on the Fox show Party Over Here, a half-hour sketch comedy created by Paul Scheer and Lonely Island, which was cancelled after one season. As a commentator on the show Girl Code, she was described by Maitri Mehta at Bustle as a "beloved talking head"; Stephanie Merry at The Washington Post called Byer "one of the most dependably funny commentators" on the show. Byer has guest starred in several shows including BoJack Horseman, Transparent, and Bob's Burgers. She played Lizette in season 5, episode 7 of the Freeform series Young & Hungry in 2017. She appeared as a guest judge on the third season of . She tours the United States doing stand-up comedy and regularly performs improv with Upright Citizens Brigade in Los Angeles. As of March 2018, Byer hosts a Netflix original bake-off series Nailed It! alongside head judge, chocolatier Jacques Torres. Each episode features three home bakers with a "terrible track record" attempting to recreate extremely complicated pastries for a $10,000 prize. She received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program. In 2018, she appeared in a Smirnoffad campaign with actor Ted Danson. Her first book #VERYFAT #VERYBRAVE: The Fat Girl's Guide to Being #Brave and Not a Dejected, Melancholy, Down-in-the-Dumps Weeping Fat Girl in a Bikini is set to come out in 2020.
''Loosely Exactly Nicole''
In 2016, MTV premiered Loosely Exactly Nicole, a scripted, single-camera comedy written and starring Byer, based on her life. Madeleine Davies at Jezebel described the show's premise as a "comedic look on life as a black actress struggling to make it in Hollywood." Loosely, Exactly Nicole premiered September 5, 2016 on MTV. It was later cancelled after one season. Shortly after, it was picked up by Facebook Watch for a second season.
Podcasts
In December 2017, Byer launched a weekly podcast Why Won't You Date Me? on the HeadGum podcast network. Each episode features a guest, typically another comedian, with whom Byer converses openly about her limited dating history, past sexual experiences, and frustration with being single. The guest also critiques her Tinder profile. Byer concludes each show by asking the guest host if they would date her. Past guests include her very close friend Sasheer Zamata, Emily Heller, and Brooks Wheelan. Critics have referred to the show as "bold" and "refreshing." In 2019, Byer, alongside Sasheer Zamata, launched a podcast on the Earwolf podcast network, Best Friends, a weekly podcast in which the two ruminate on the nature of friendship. Guest episodes have included such pairs such as actresses June Diane Raphael and Casey Wilson, drag queensKatya Zamolodchikova and Trixie Mattel, and internet personalities Keith Habersberger and Zach Kornfeld of The Try Guys. In 2020, Byer launched a weekly podcast, Newcomers: Star Wars, on the HeadGum podcast network alongside Lauren Lapkus, in which the two friends watch the Star Wars filmsfor the first time and comment on their feelings on each movie as newcomers to the series. Each episode features a guest who provides more background on the series and characters. Past guests have included John Gemberling, Demi Adejuyigbe, Paul F. Tompkins, and Betsy Sodaro.
Comedic style
On The Ringer, Allison P. Davis described Byer's comedy: "Most easily compared to a raunchier Retta with a hint of Ilana Glazer's madcap energy. She's mouthy, vulgar, a little bit goofy, relatable but ridiculously charming, and not afraid to infuse her broad comedy with a confident sexuality." Writing for USA Today, Jaleesa M. Jones said that "it's precisely brazen, ribald brand of comedy that landed her in the creative incubator that is MTV, where she toplines two new comedy shows in 2016, Ladylike and Loosely Exactly Nicole". Byer described Whoopi Goldberg, Tina Turner, and Mo'Nique as her early inspirations.
Personal life
Byer supports body positivity and stated in an interview with Brit+Co, "Body positivity, to me, means you accept the body that you're in... And if you want to change it, you can, but you should love the skin that you're in currently, forever. Because everyone is beautiful. No one's truly ugly. You're always beautiful to somebody, and you're always ugly to somebody." On her sexual orientation, Byer has said that she "doesn't identify as straight", but is uncomfortable with the labels "bisexual" or "queer" since while she has felt attraction to other women, she has only ever dated men.
