Why Nicole Byer is the Hostess with the Mostest
Nicole Byer looks positively ethereal in a white dress in this pink and blue gauzy shot.

The Host

Nicole Byer is the hostess with the mostest on Nailed It!

22 June 20221 min read

Do you ever watch an episode of an amateur baking show that makes you question the definition of amateur (because you couldn’t possibly create something that tastes or looks as good as what the contestants whip up)? If so, Nailed It! will both restore your faith in your vocabulary and inspire you to don an apron again.

What makes this baking competition series so watchable, apart from the bright colors and (sometimes) tasty treats, is the personality and humor of hostess with the mostest Nicole Byer. The bubbly comedian keeps participants and viewers cackling through each episode as the bakers work to make a creation that is not only edible but matches a photo of an expert-level, professionally made dessert. Byer manages to lovingly poke fun at contestants’ often indiscernible final products while keeping spirits up in the kitchen.

Byer may have won acclaim for her hosting abilities, as the first Black woman nominated in the category of Outstanding Host for a Reality or Competition Program at the Emmys, but she’s the first to admit her baking skills are much closer to the hopeless amateurs than those of her co-judge, illustrious pastry chef Jacques Torres. “I told them going in that I don’t really know anything about baking. They were like, ‘Perfect!’” Byer says of the producers. “That’s the thing: This show is just a bunch of people who don’t know how to bake or recreate these things, and a host who’s like, ‘What’s fondant?’”