MTV’s Catfish: Why Nev And Max Are The Best Host Duo (And Why Nev And Kamie Are Better)

More than many other reality series about online dating, MTV’s Catfish has stood the test of time. Since 2012, the show has featured hundreds of cases of hopefuls looking for love online and ultimately turning to the series’ hosts for help in their times of need. For much of the series’ run, Catfish was hosted by filmmakers Nev Schulman and Max Joseph.

Midway through season 7, Max left the series. A rotating cast of guest hosts was featured for the remainder of the season before former Miss Teen USA Kamie Crawford became the new permanent co-host. Catfish has evolved a lot over the years, but fans are still divided over whether Nev works best with Max or with Kamie.

10 Nev And Max: They Made The Show Work

Reality dating shows are a guilty pleasure for many viewers, but these addictive shows work only if the people involved in the show are enjoyable too. The premise of Catfish may have been the hook for some viewers early on, but it was Nev and Max’s banter that kept them coming back.

Hosts can really make or break a television show, and not every show finds the right chemistry between its leads. Catfish never had to try to make it seem like Nev and Max worked as a pair. It was obvious that they did, and fans’ love of their dynamic kept them hooked on the series.

9 Nev And Kamie: They Revitalized A Stale Formula

Any show that has aired over 100 episodes has likely settled into a formula that could be described as stale, tired, or predictable. It’s even rarer for a long-running reality series to reinvent itself. But Catfish did just that midway through its seventh season, bringing in Kamie as the official replacement co-host following Max’s departure.

Fans initially were wary of whether Catfish could work without Nev and Max at the helm, but Kamie made herself right at home on the show. Viewers warmed to her and her enthusiasm, which provided the aging MTV series with a much-needed boost of energy.

8 Nev And Max: Their Shared Friendship History

A big part of what made Nev and Max so successful as co-hosts was that they were actually best friends. With decades of history to their friendship going all the way back to their adolescent years, Nev and Max had already developed a strong rapport with one another, including shorthand and wordless communication.

Television shows are often eager to push the narrative that their cast members get along off-screen, but MTV got lucky with these two as their off-screen friendship was palpable on-screen. too. This made for many hilarious anecdotes over the years.

7 Nev And Kamie: Kamie Makes Nev Bolder

During the Nev-and-Max era of Catfish, it was rare to see Nev lose his cool. Max was always the agitator and the one who called people out on their lies. Nev was more reserved and comfortable with calm discussions. With Kamie by his side, however, Nev’s personality has changed — potentially for the better.

Nev has gotten much bolder in recent episodes, not hesitating to confront and call out catfishes and unsuspecting hopefuls alike. Kamie always has his back, and she often joins in on the tough conversations. As a result, some of Catfish‘s more recent episodes are more profound than some of the series’ early work.

6 Nev And Max: They Take Their Search Seriously, But They Care Too

Some episodes of Catfish could get to difficult territory, especially if people were lied to, manipulated, and even convinced to give a catfish money or gifts of significant value. These cases could get dark and uncomfortable. With less capable hosts, the show would have veered into sensationalism and melodrama.

Nev and Max maintained the balance between entertainment and overdoing it. They helped their hopefuls through the difficult pursuit of the truth but also helped them relax and have a good time. They never pushed anyone past their comfort zone, always finding ways to defuse tense situations.

5 Nev And Kamie: Perfect Chemistry, Even Virtually

Nev and Kamie found themselves presented with the unthinkable when the COVID-19 pandemic waylaid their first full season together. Although they shared a few episodes together in person at the start of season 8, the remainder of the season would find them working to solve cases via the internet and Zoom.

This fundamentally changed the formula of the series as the dramatic meetup reveals now all took place via Zoom meetings. Yet no matter how different episodes may have played out, Nev and Kamie developed an incredibly enjoyable dynamic even while working together virtually. The strength of their chemistry remained clear.

4 Nev And Max: Max’s Realism Balances Nev’s Romanticism

Sometimes the best duos are ones that feature polar opposites. Pairs in the vein of The Odd Couple can balance each other out and also make for some incredible comedy. Nev and Max’s relationship was a perfect example of this.

For much of their time together, Nev was a wide-eyed optimist who always wanted to believe that online love was real. This was due largely to his own past of being catfished not once, but twice. On the other hand, Max was much more of a jaded realist and provided Nev and hopefuls alike with much-needed reality checks. On rare occasions, he was also even able to get through to the catfishes themselves due to his brutal honesty.

3 Nev And Kamie: They Solve Cases Faster

It’s unlikely to see “character development” of sorts take place in the world of reality TV, but Catfish has given its viewers a front-row seat to witnessing Nev’s development as an investigator and Kamie’s significant role in that growth. After spending 7 seasons as the relative optimist with Max, Nev is much more no-nonsense now. Kamie is likewise always getting straight to the point.

As a result of their zero-tolerance policy for any kind of shady behavior or blatant lies, Nev and Kamie have been solving cases a lot more quickly than Nev and Max ever did. Catfishes are often identified by the halfway point in an episode, with the remainder dealing with the fallout between the catfish and hopeful. In a way, Catfish has never been more efficient and effective since Kamie joined as a replacement host.

2 Nev And Max: They’re Not Afraid To Get Silly

Even though viewers tuned in for each episode of Catfish to see how ridiculous the cases would get, there was also definitely a draw to see just how ridiculous Nev and Max were going to get too. Many episodes featured entire cutaway segments in which Nev and Max went off on adventures in the city they were visiting.

As Catfish reached 100 episodes, the duo also hosted a series of contained episodes in which they reflected on and reacted to past memorable episodes, which led to many hilarious moments. Nev and Max were always good at their jobs, but their shared sense of humor was arguably the highlight of their time together.

1 Nev And Kamie: Kamie Offers Much-Needed Insight

For much of its run, Catfish was a series hosted by two white men. Even though the individuals who appeared on the series represented diverse backgrounds of gender, race, and sexuality, Nev and Max were never able to see beyond their own limited worldviews.

With her perspective as a Black woman, Kamie brings a fresh mindset and point of view to the show. She gives some of the best advice on reality TV to both hopefuls and catfishes, and she even holds Nev accountable when he treads into territory that he doesn’t have the authority to speak on. Kamie has changed the politics and the optics of the series for the better.

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