Eric Nies

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Eric Nies, as featured on the cover of a workout video based on the MTV series The Grind.

Eric Nies (born May 23, 1971 in Ocean Township, New Jersey), is a former male fashion model whose reality television appearances made him a celebrity.

Nies is single, and currently resides in New York City. The son of Jack Nies, an NBA official, and Anna May, a pre-school teacher, he also has an older brother named John.

[edit] Career

Nies first gained fame as a cast member on the first season of MTV's reality television program, The Real World. After his exposure on The Real World, he went on to host the MTV series The Grind, which featured a studio audience dancing to popular dance tracks.

A model by profession, he and his older brother John posed nude in the Bruce Weber photography book Bear Pond. Although his brother is featured heavily, Nies himself only appears in two shots; one of which is full frontal. However, after he featured in the premier season of The Real World: New York, the pictures from the Weber book circulated on the internet.

Nies also appeared on a number of dance workout videos which, though he introduced, were actually led by fitness instructors. As each video progressed, whilst the other participants remained fully clothed, Nies invariably removed layers of clothing until he was bare chested. He also promoted the videos on daytime television shows such as The View and Donny and Marie, similarly attired. He also regularly presented The Grind dance show with no shirt, prompting on one occasion guest Queen Latifah to ask: "How much to they pay you to show your nipples?"^[1]

Nies has since hosted a range of television shows, including Road Rules and appeared in a couple of films. He has also been involved in a number of fitness product promotions, on infomercials and on the Internet.

Nies also started Moment of Hope, a post 9/11 non-profit organization that involves children joining hands, showing a brotherhood of children across America.

In 2002, Eric Nies joined longtime friend Doug Hertling in developing an entertainment guide called Glide Magazine, which was later purchased by Viacom and became MTV Magazine.