NATALIE NUNN HAS BEEN RUNNING THE BADDIE UNIVERSE FOR YEARS AND ISN’T DONE YET
For the past 15 years, Natalie Nunn has graced our tv screens as one of the OG Baddies of reality television. Now, an executive producer of various shows, a mother and wife, Natalie shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. We sat down with Natalie to learn all about her start in tv and what she plans on doing next.
Many people may not know that you have a degree in sociology & communications. Where did you go to school and how would you say you use your degree currently in your career?
I graduated from the University of Southern California! USC Trojan baby! I graduated with 2 degrees in Sociology and Communications! Sociology is the study of people, and my focus was juvenile delinquents and why kids and people act and do the things they do!
I mean obviously both my degrees very much help me in my career as an executive producer of Baddies, Bad Boys and Crazy in Love! I’m able to understand why people do the things they do and what makes them who they are by understanding their background and how they grew up!
You played soccer at USC and went to the Junior Olympics! How long did you play soccer and run in track and field? Did you ever consider going pro?
Yes, I did I feel like a lot of my fans know this about me, but a lot of the new ones don’t know this about me! I played soccer and ran track since I was 9 years old! I went to the Junior Olympics in the 400-meter dash when I was a freshman in high school!
I’ve always wanted to play soccer and I feel like once I got older and went to USC on a full ride soccer scholarship, I realized there wasn’t enough money for me to go pro and live the lifestyle I wanted in life.
Due to being an athlete at USC you were very well connected with young Hollywood stars, and you used this to your benefit. Do you think being so popular at school and around LA helped you easily transition into reality tv?
Going to USC definitely had me around the who’s who’s in young Hollywood. They were always on our campus and hanging around the student athletes. But there were times when being a student athlete at USC had us hanging around the stars and that helped us navigate our way into Hollywood events as well.
We first got to know Natalie Nunn on season 4 of Bad Girls Club in 2009. Take us back to that time and talk about how you found out about the show.
Bad Girls Club Season 4 was filmed way back in 2009. Ha ha ha, man what a ride it’s been and to look back it’s been so much hard work and nonstop grinding! I started off auditioning for the Bad Girls Club when I found out about it from an audition that had come to San Francisco, and I went and auditioned for the show!
You’ve spoken about how the process of getting selected for the Bad Girls Club was very long and complicated. Tell us about what you went through to become a cast member of the show.
Yes, the process wasn’t easy at all! I don’t think many people know that they did extensive interviews and sociology tests to see what type of personality each bad girl had individually.
What did you enjoy the most about being on Bad Girls Club?
My first season of Bad Girls Club was getting to know all the girls from different walks of life that I didn’t know, so I can say I enjoyed that aspect the most.
Next you joined the cast of Hair Battle Spectacular in the following year. What was your role on this show?
Hair battle spectacular was a fun hair challenge show! I was a judge who got to judge the hair styles and one thing I love is some fun wild hair. That project was a blast.
Your next reality tv role was on the Bad Girls Club spin off “Love Games: Bad Girls Need Love Too” back in 2010. Did you like being on a dating show? How did this experience differ from your previous shows?
Love Games was one of my least favorite shows! I just wasn’t interested in dating a bunch of contestants all at one time, it was hard for me to really be into the guys and the show overall.
When the Bad Girls Club franchise ended, you shot your own pilot for Bad Boys Club back in 2011 and shopped it around to various networks. Although the show never got picked up, you put a lot of effort into trying to make it happen. Looking back, what did you learn from this experience? Why did you want to keep the franchise going?
I pushed and pushed for Bad Boys and shopped it to multiple networks. Looking back, I just say to myself, Zeus gave me the opportunity to put my dreams on to tv and it is still one of the top shows that came to Zeus Network.
Once Baddies were up and running you got the chance to finally add Bad Boys to the franchise. Tell us about how you were able to execute this show and how it differs from the women’s show.
Bad Boys is a totally different show than Baddies! The guys just bring a whole different level of energy and vibe, but overall, I will say Bad Boys is one of my favorite shows I’ve ever worked on! I love seeing the different male personalities interact with each other!
A few years ago, you went on “Celebrity Big Brother London”, where you had to do various challenges to stay on the show. Talk to us about what that experience was like. Would you ever go on a competition show again?
Celebrity Big Brother London was a dream come true! I wanted to do this show for years before I was cast on it. I was always runner-up to being cast on the series but was never picked.
Once I was casted, I was just so excited to show my personality to the UK! I wasn’t the biggest fan of the challenges, especially the ones with the US Government games, it felt disrespectful to our country.
When Only Fans blew up during the pandemic you decided to get together with some of the old Bad Girls Club cast mates and do a revamped version of the show. From this, a mini deal with Zeus first comes about. Take us back to this time and talk about what happened.
I had told some of the former Bad Girls Club stars, “Let’s get together, rent a house in Atlanta and film a lil mini-series!”. But I had already been in talks with Zeus through a few producers about bringing Baddies to the network.
Once I pitched my proposal to Zeus for Baddies to come, we decided to have a conversation with some of the former Bad Girl Club stars to see how it would work bringing the Bad Girls to Zeus number wise, like how many people would tune in and it did decent!
You’re very hands on with Baddies on Zeus – from casting to production and working with talent on and off camera. How has your career leading up to your current show prepared you for all these roles?
Yes, I’m very hands on with Baddies. I’ve always been able to help with casting on shows based on my relationships with people! I always keep a strong relationship with my celebrity friends. This always helps with the casting tremendously!
You started in Hollywood at 24 years old and fresh out of college. When you first started out in your career what were you hoping to accomplish?
When I first started out, I was just hoping to get my foot in the door and be able to make some connections to keep things going. Also of course being able to make some money and live well. Hollywood wasn’t cheap and I was just a young 24-year-old girl trying to win!
In the 3 years you’ve been working on Baddies with the Zeus Network, what have you learned as an executive producer and showrunner?
I’ve learned so much in the last 3 years! Going from being only talent to now EP and talent, I’ve learned that some much is always happening behind the scenes with the possible flight delays or switching houses, to weather, that can prohibit us from filming certain days or delay things!
I’ve learned that things happen every day when you’re the talent that you don’t always know or think about. It’s easy to get frustrated, start conspiracy theories, etc., when you don’t know all the behind-the-scenes details. I’ve learned that patience is the key and there’s so many moving objects to keep a production running.
How have you managed to stay relevant for the past 15 years?
I’ve just always been myself! Even as I’ve grown and now, I’m a boss mom, I’ve always been a boss and a leader. That’s what is most important, staying true to yourself.
You’ve been married for over 10 years, and you have a 7-year-old daughter named Journey. How do you balance your career, motherhood and being a wife? What has been challenging about it?
It’s extremely hard juggling Hollywood and home. I’ve always made sure to put my family first. The hardest part is being away working, but I want to always make sure that I find the balance. So, Journey is home schooled, and she has a traveling teacher who comes on the road with us so Journey can travel when I’m working and still get her work done.
What’s next for Natalie Nunn? What can we expect from you this year?
I have 3 more projects I’ll be filming this year with the Zeus Network that I’m very excited about. This is a big year for me as so much is happening, as I step into the music industry as well! I have a lot of fun projects coming. Stay tuned, I love you guys and thank you so much Galore!
TEAM CREDITS:
Editor in Chief: Prince Chenoa (@princechenoastudio)
Feature Editor: Taylor Winter Wilson (@taylorwinter)
Photographer: Savanna Ruedy (@savannarruedy)
Cover Art Design: Carlos Graciano (@sadpapi666)
Makeup Artist: Deja Aliyah Stone (@dejaaliyah)
Hair Stylist: Brittany Nashay Brown
Stylist: Winnie Stackz (@winniestackz)
