Comedian Nate Bargatze prioritizes normal life for 13-year-old Harper in Nashville move

Nate Bargatze has opened up about why he left Los Angeles and returned to his hometown of Nashville, revealing that the move was “specifically” for his daughter, Harper. 

The comedian, 46, shares 13-year-old Harper with his wife, Laura Bargatze, and said he wanted her to have a grounded upbringing away from the entertainment world.

“We live in a great neighborhood. We're in a cul-de-sac. No one who's really in entertainment [lives] there,” Nate told People. “So everything that she is around now … she's not around this [showbiz]. She knows I do it, but overall, she's going to school and living a normal life.”

Nate said the move gave Harper the freedom to pursue entertainment, if she chooses, on her own terms. 

“If she ever wanted to do it, it's on her own. It's her call,” he said. His father, Stephen Bargatze, is also a performer, making entertainment a family tradition.

The comedian has long prioritized privacy and quality time with Harper. “I want her to be able to trust that she can come to me as her father,” he said, “and not think anything she says I’m going to go tell the whole world.” 

Having only one child has allowed Nate and Laura to devote their full attention to Harper, he added.

Even at 13, Harper is already her father’s toughest critic. Nate joked on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that she often doesn’t find his stand-up specials funny, though she enjoys seeing him in other projects. 

Harper herself once declared in a Netflix video that she is “way funnier” than her dad and that some of his jokes about her should be cut from his routine.

Nate Bargatze currently hosts ABC’s new game show The Greatest Average American, which celebrates everyday Americans’ trivia and rewards contestants with the average U.S. salary. The show airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET.