How Eric Nam Built a Second Career in American TV

Singer Eric Nam has quietly built a second career in the United States as his activity in South Korea have slowed. His face now appears across American television, from a major music awards show to network competition series and buzzy reality programs.

Born in the U.S. and based in South Korea for more than a decade, he has spent years hosting English-language content, and the industry increasingly points to that experience as the reason his hosting work translates so well into American television

Eric Nam will release his fourth studio album, "Confessions of a Lonely Heart," on Oct. 16. It is his first full-length album in about three years.

As notable as the album news is Eric Nam's recent run of U.S activities. Last month, Eric Nam attended the "MTV Video Music Awards" (VMAs), the same ceremony where BTS and BLACKPINK's Lisa have won major prizes. He walked the red carpet and gave interviews to American outlets throughout the night.

Before that, he appeared as a special guest during the Season 21 semifinals of NBC's audition series "America's Got Talent" and hosted backstage content for the show. In August, he held a solo concert, "Spotlight: Eric Nam," at the 200-seat Clive Davis Theater inside the Grammy Museum in Los Angeles.

He also joined one of the biggest reality franchises on American television. From January through February, Eric Nam appeared on Season 4 of Peacock's hit competition "The Traitors." He was one of 23 celebrities in the season's cast, which included U.S. reality stars, actors, comedians and athletes. Even though he joined the game mid-season, he survived all the way to the finale.

The way Eric Nam has made a name for himself in the U.S. looks different from the usual K-POP playbook for breaking into the American market. After the COVID-19 pandemic, he shifted much of his work to the U.S. Rather than limiting himself as just a singer, he moved into hosting and broadcasting roles and built mainstream recognition through those platforms. People in the industry often cite his background as a key advantage. He was born in Atlanta and grew up immersed in American culture and was familiar with its television landscape.

He has also earned a reputation in North America as a host who puts guests at ease and knows how to keep a conversation going. That experience comes from more than a decade of running English-language programming and interviewing international stars, work he began early in his career in South Korean. On MBC's "Section TV Entertainment News," he interviewed Hollywood actors including Robert Downey Jr., Matt Damon, Emma Stone and Benedict Cumberbatch.

In 2019, he launched the media company DIVE Studios with his brothers and began hosting the English-language podcast "Daebak Show." That podcast became a foundation for his expansion into American television.

Through his podcast and his music, Eric Nam had already built a global fanbase strong enough to carry a world tour before expanding further into U.S. broadcasting. In 2022, he played 60 shows across the U.S., Europe and Asia, drawing more than 85,000 fans in total. His 2023–2024 world tour sold out multiple North American cities as well.