If You Hurt Nick Bateman's Dogs, He Just Might Kill You
If you don't already know about Nick Bateman—the model slash actor slash outdoorsman slash walking, talking sex-on-a-stick with over 6 million Instagram followers—let this be your introduction.
As of last month, he's also the face of Bulgari's new fragrance for men, Wood Essence, a scent that could be described as liquified Bateman, combining cedarwood, cypress branches, citrus zest, and coriander. Basically, the perfect scent for an outdoorsy Canadian-born model with natural looks that could kill. "The way they describe the heart of the fragrance is that it's a guy who connects with the city but also has a big connection to nature," he says. "I was like ‘you’re literally describing me.’"
Despite landing this big-time gig, the proud father of two Yorkies would rather talk dogs. The pups in question, Joey, and Keeva Bateman, have their massive fanbases of their own with 248K and 58.8K followers respectively. And here we are just trying to get our dogs to not pee on the carpet. He also recently announced via Instagram that he and his girlfriend Maria Corrigan are pregnant. Congratulations, beautiful people.*
*This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
First of all, how do you get over a hangover? Help me.
BATEMAN: I’m not hungover today thank god, but usually I sleep until I can’t sleep anymore. I eat greasy food. I usually have a good diet, but one thing I do is I go to In & Out. So that saves me, I wake up and eat, then go back to sleep. I also watch a little bit of Family Guy, some animation, and then I’m good. So, get some dirty Thai food and watch some animation and you’re cured. Lots of water too.
Ok, I'm supposed to be asking you serious questions. What’s it like to partner up with a luxury label like Bulgari?
BATEMAN: I'm beyond stoked. When you start in the fashion industry or as a model, obviously your goal is to reach the top, the pinnacle. And for myself, anything I do I want to be the best. So when I started modeling, at least in my eyes, the top thing I could do was land a fragrance campaign. And I’ve wanted a fragrance since I started, but I didn’t want just any fragrance. I had offers in the past years for fragrances, but they weren’t the right fit. And when I got this offer, I heard about the story and why they thought I was the right fit, and I was very excited because it was organic, it was real and it was actually how I live my life.
The way they describe the heart of the fragrance is that it's a guy who connects with the city but also has a big connection to nature, I was like ‘you’re literally describing me.’ I was blown away, and it only added to my happiness when I met Alberto Morillas, the master perfumer. They let me know that when they were making the fragrance they sent him photos of me and told him who I was and that he was thinking of me when he made it. That’s why I’m still in awe because I was like holy shit, I’m not just the face of it, he actually thought of me while he was making it.
You’ve been liquified.
BATEMAN: And that’s what’s cool about Bulgari is that they’re really a family and they put a lot of themselves into who they’re working with.
Imagine you had to wear a scent that didn’t smell good?
BATEMAN: I wouldn’t have done it. The thing is, I know they have a good track record with scents and I don’t think they can make something that smells bad. Also, the thing is I’m brutally honest, so if they gave me a scent I didn’t like, I would have been honest with them and said this is not my favorite. Before Wood Essence I would wear two fragrances, one for the day that smelt like citrus and one for the night that smelt woodier. So they literally took the two fragrances I used to wear and mixed them together. So everything about this campaign has just been randomly too perfect to the point where it’s scary. Even my favorite color is green and the bottle is green, I haven’t said that in one interview.
So this is our exclusive.
BATEMAN: Yeah. My favorite color is green. Everything about it felt right. I like the city and the landscape, but everything else about me is very natural. I’m very chill with my clothing and I’m always looking to be comfortable, happy and relaxed. It’s a guy who lives in the city but who wants to disconnect and I do that all the time. Now we’re in London but soon I’ll be going back home to disconnect.
Back to Canada?
BATEMAN: I’m going to go back to Canada for a couple of days, and then I just bought a house in California that I turned into a complete sanctuary. I bought a quarter acre, I have a pool and a hot tub, I have a basketball court, a fire pit.
I feel like that’s the Canadian dream, moving to LA and having a pool in your backyard.
BATEMAN: Yeah! I bought a corn hole, darts, a beer pong table, I have truth-or-dare Jenga, it’s so fun. I put a TV outside with lawn chairs so I can watch movies outside. So the backyard of my house is my sanctuary.
So what do you do when you go back to nature?
BATEMAN: Well I like martial arts, and my favorite sport as a kid was football. American football. And if I’m going into nature to play anything it would be football but it’s hard to get a bunch of guys together. If I just want to escape, I’ll go to the beach, I love finding places that have awesome waves. I like jumping in waves, even though I end up getting my ass kicked. I get pummelled and go through a washing machine cycle, but it’s fun. I also like to light my fire pit and put on music, there’s something so relaxing about staring at a flame.
Let’s talk about your dogs. Who are they?
BATEMAN: I have two dogs. One is named Joey Bateman, and the other is Keeva. Joey is almost ten years old, he’s nine. He’s the most followed Yorkie in the world, he’s got almost a quarter million followers. He’s a sweetheart. And Keeva, my other dog, she’s only two, she’s got a little over 50 thousand followers.
Does this mean you get free dog food?
BATEMAN: Sometimes. The thing is some brands that have asked me to advertise, I’m like, your dog food is really unhealthy. I can’t. I feed my dogs the healthiest dry dog food I can find. I’m madly in love with my dogs. I’ve always had big dogs my whole life, but I was living in an apartment and my girlfriend wanted a dog and I knew we couldn’t get a big dog. So she said let’s just get a little dog, and I said I didn’t want to because they’re so yappy.
Not all of them!
BATEMAN: Well my dogs don’t bark at all. So I said let’s get a dog, and I’ll train it. So my dogs don’t bark, the only sound Joey makes sounds like he’s sneezing, it’s the cutest thing.
So these are your children.
BATEMAN: Yeah and I want to get more dogs. Two, for now. Joey is such a baby that when we got Keeva he got a little jealous. If I show any extra attention to Keeva, he gets mad. So when I come home I have to say hi to him first. Keeva doesn’t give a shit, she’s happy-go-lucky.
I heard you have a monitor in your house filming your dogs live. A doggy nanny cam.
BATEMAN: I do! Look I’ll show you. So it’s a few hours behind in California so they’re probably sleeping, but if I rewind, there’s Joey. He’s older and he waddles. It’s cute because you can catch them chilling on the couch. So when I miss them I check on them. And the best thing about this camera is that I can touch a button and talk to them live. It’s so funny because I’ll make cat noises and they freak out. [makes cat noises]
Oh my God, you’re really good at making cat noises.
BATEMAN: Do you see her head popping up? It’s cool to be across the world and know that they’re fine. I’m always scared when people watch them because where I live, there are hawks.
I have a Chihuahua so I know the fear is real.
BATEMAN: I have a vendetta against these hawks. Everyone who watches my dogs knows they can’t let out the dogs unless they’re with them. If I get a call that a hawk killed my dog, I’ll kill you.
