Nick Viall Felt 'Guilty' Leaving Pregnant Fiancée for Boot Camp — But Wanted to Make His Child 'Proud' (Exclusive)

Viall is currently expecting his first baby with girlfriend Natalie Joy

Nick Viall felt a little guilty for leaving his fiancée to compete on Special Forces: World's Toughest Test.

The podcast host and former Bachelorette contestant, 43, talked with PEOPLE about joining the cast for season 2 of Special Forces just a few weeks after learning that his fiancée Natalie Joy, 24, was expecting the couple's first baby together.

"It was really new," Viall tells PEOPLE of Joy's pregnancy. "And it was a bit nerve-wracking just because Natalie had just started morning sickness, or for her, it was more like all-day sickness. So I felt pretty guilty about that."

"We had our first doctor's appointment coming up, so it was hard to be away from her. And thankfully, I had her support and I knew that she really wanted me to do well."

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Although Viall knew he could count on Joy's support back home, he says it actually complicated his feelings about the show.

"But there were moments where it almost made it harder," he says. "When you got to your breaking point, you started thinking of reasons of why it was okay to quit. It's like, 'I don't need to be here.' And for me it was like, 'Well, I need to be home and I need to be at the doctor's appointment,' and things like that."

"I just kept thinking about Natalie, and I knew I had her support. I knew that she wanted me to do well, and these guys kept me going," Viall continues, referring to friends JoJo Siwa and Tyler Cameron.

"But it was definitely a challenge, but at the same time, I just kept thinking like, 'Someday my daughter,' I didn't know the gender at that point, I just kept thinking like, 'Someday my child's going to be able to watch this, and I want to make them proud.'"

"And that definitely helped me get through it as well."

The Viall Files podcast host and his pregnant fianceé shared the sex of their baby on the way in a sweet reveal in September.

Sharing a video of Viall popping a black balloon that released pink confetti and pink balloons throughout the room, he wrapped his arms around Joy, who laughed and leaned into him.

"Baby Viall is a....🤍," Joy captioned her post.

In the comments, Viall joked about what his future daughter's first word might be. "Her first word will be....Boundaries."

The couple, who got engaged in January, first announced their pregnancy news in August.

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