Who the hell is Nick Bateman?

How did model/actor Nick Bateman end up with 1,138,067 followers (and counting!) on Instagram? (More than Cher! Hundreds of thousands more than David Gandy and Barbra Streisand! And not too far behind in followers from Karlie Kloss and Kate Upton) The Daily sat down with this humble Canadian to find out how he’s rocked the social media world via Instagram and Facebook, (where another million plus follow him) and turn himself into a brand. There’s even a calendar coming your way. Who’s really breaking the Internet? Meet Nick. 

Let’s get straight to the question! Who the hell is Nick Bateman?Nick Bateman is a guy from Canada who, at four years old, wanted to be a ninja turtle, so he started doing martial arts. Through that, I started training and I found a bo staff, which is a weapon used in martial arts from Japan. It became my passion so I started training. I wanted to be a regional champion and once I saw regional championships come my way, I was like, “If I can do this maybe I can be a world champion.” Then I trained, went to the world championships, got my butt kicked, then realized, “Wow! I have a lot of hard work to do.” After over 10 years of training, I won my first world title.

How did the modeling thing come about?When I was 17, after I won my first world title, I had a friend who was a promoter for karate tournaments. He ended up doing an event for ESPN International in Miami called “The Best of the Best.” While I was there an event was going on for Model Universe; not quite high fashion stuff. I wasn’t technically allowed to be in it because I wasn’t 18 yet at the time. Somehow I got in, though, and I did it for fun. One of the judges discovered me and introduced me to Calvin Klein while we were there. I walked up to Calvin and my friend said, “Nick, this is Calvin,” and I said, “Nice to meet you.” I knew who Calvin Klein was, but I didn’t know that was Calvin Klein. I saw some guy in a white shirt and jeans and I’m like, “OK, bye,” I walked away and my friend said, “Did you just walk away from him?” and I’m like, “Yeah why? Who was that?” and he said “That was Calvin!” and I’m like, “Calvin who?” and he said, “You just walked away from Calvin Klein!” He took me back and I talked to Calvin. He thought I had a good look, though I don’t know why. Back then, I looked like a total fool: I had spiky hair and no facial hair.

What was Calvin doing there?I don’t know. It was not the place for him, because Model Universe is more about bodybuilding. I lucked out by meeting him, though. After I went back to Canada, I started modeling. My first big campaign was for Abercrombie & Fitch. I was on the bags for about two and a half years.

What’s it like having your face on a bag? 
Very fun. The Abercrombie experience is funny because they fly 120 people down for the casting. Then they meet you, and they send 40 people home without even shooting them. Everyone has to be plain. The girls wear no makeup. Then, they bring you into a room with Bruce Weber.  Everyone in the room is scared sh*tless.

Did you get recognized from being on the bag?Yeah! A lot of people would say, “Oh, you’re the guy from the bag.” Anyone who worked at Abercrombie, was like, “Oh my God,” because they saw my face everyday. So I did get noticed quite a bit.

Did you save the bags?
Yes! They’re dwindling because I give them out to my family. I think I have three bags left. I’m gonna frame one, because that’s a good memory. Especially being shot by Bruce Weber.

Do you consider yourself more of a model or actor nowadays?As long as I’m happy doing what I’m doing, that’s what I want to do. I’ll never be one thing. This sounds so cheesy, but one of my idols is Forrest Gump. As weird as that sounds, he’s one of those people where he was ignorant and full of bliss. He wanted to do something, he did it, and he did it good. He put his heart into it, and that’s the type of person I am. Right now I’m considering myself more of an actor, because that’s where I wanna go with my life. Even when I was modeling, I didn’t like to consider myself just a model. I was always an athlete and a martial artist, who became a model, for the fun of modeling.