How ‘Dancing Weatherman’ Nick Kosir Embraced Sobriety And Stepped Into His Joy

These days, people know Nick Kosir as “The Dancing Weatherman,” a meteorologist at Fox Weather who delivers not only the forecast but unbridled joy through his fly moves and optimism that have amassed him a following of more than 12 million across TikTok and Instagram.

But not all that long ago, Kosir was in stuck in a pattern of alcohol consumption, regret and stagnation. He credits his sobriety journey – which started with a breakthrough moment in therapy – for all that’s transpired since.

“I can fully say my social media popularity and success is 100 percent attributed to my becoming sober,” he says. “I got sober on September 17, 2018 and I was finally able to stack consistently productive days. When I was drinking I’d be productive Monday, maybe Tuesday, and then Tuesday night I would drink, Wednesday wake up a little bit lethargic, wouldn’t make a lot of progress, then Thursday I’d be back at it. The ball would start rolling but it would stop. Whereas when I got sober the ball would start rolling and keep rolling.”

Like many people of a certain age, Kosir grew up immersed in a culture of drinking. Alcohol was pervasive, and so was the stigma that men, in particular, needed to tough it out even if that drinking had unsavory consequences.

“Both my grandfathers were alcoholics, unfortunately it’s just one of those things that runs in my family,” he says. “At a young age I realized when I would drink I would finally feel comfortable in my own skin, and it was a really good feeling. And in my generation, I was born in ’83, alcohol was everywhere and if you weren’t drinking it was kindof weird.”

As his consumption spilled into more parts of his life, Kosir says he knew he had a problem but didn’t have the capacity to understand the root cause and how to begin fixing it.

“I would later find out I was self-medicating,” he says. “I’d tried to quit and white-knuckle it a dozen times and would make it six or seven months and then eventually I would just try to put restrictions on it. Only drink with friends. Don’t drink liquor, only beer, and things like that. Of course it never worked. But with drinking, you just have to quit one time successfully.”

While Kosir didn’t have a dramatic rock bottom moment, he vividly remembers the night he was overserved at a restaurant with his wife and friends. He woke up the next morning determined to break the cycle. He tried Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, which didn’t click for him, “and then I finally mustered the courage to go to therapy. To say, I need help with my mental health. Not physical, but mental health,” he says. And that was the turning point.

“After a few sessions my therapist said, ‘Nick, you have classic social anxiety. It’s common,’” he recalls. “It never occurred to me. I just thought, this is how I am; this is how everybody is. And I didn’t know any better, didn’t realize I had this thing going on in my mind that could be corrected. It was an awesome experience for me when I realized I wasn’t alone. That other people have fought this battle and there was help and maybe a path towards healing.”

The therapist prescribed a medication Kosir said began to work almost immediately. He is currently not taking medication but considers it a bridge to his sobriety. “It worked so well. And honestly, I haven’t wanted or really craved a drop of alcohol since then.”

Among learnings, “I’m a little more introverted than I initially thought,” he says. “For years, I would drink and have this big, huge personality in pubic. And when you take that away and start doing a little bit of introspection, you have to come to terms with who you are because that’s alcohol-confident.”

He also quickly let go of a trope that was weighing heavily—that he needed to drink to be funny and engaging. “I think I thought when I got sober I’d be boring but really, the people who think they won’t be funny or they’ll be boring… those are the people who probably need to stop drinking.”

In fact, it was the opposite. Sobriety unlocked more joy, he says, from swapping a drink after a hard day at work to games with his wife and son to more time spent jogging and in nature—and dancing.

Though he’s never taken a dance lesson, Kosir’s got moves, and one day in 2019 when he was in the studio at his then gig in Charlotte, NC, he busted them out.

“And everyone loved it. I’d been trying stuff on social media for years and years, and I had some success but the dancing thing really seemed to take off. Once you catch lightening in a bottle, it’s hard to keep it there and I’ve been keeping it there for six years. I think the dancing and social media aspect of my brand helped me land this job at Fox Weather, and it wouldn’t have happened if I was drinking because maybe I would’ve been grumpy or I wouldn’t have had the energy to dance, and actually put it on a video. I think that’s the biggest part of my story—the behind the scenes part, the getting sober part.”

These days, Kosir is also fired up to share his experience to help others. “I never want to seem preachy, so I try to pick and choose my spots. Every year on my soberversary I put a video out and when I’m invited to talk on a podcast about sobriety, I always jump at the chance. And whenever I do [share], the dms I get from people are eye opening and mind blowing. So many more so than on a dance video. What’s the point of having an account and a cache and a little bit of a platform if you can’t use it for the greater good?”

Kosir’s advice for those who may be struggling? “Getting to the root of the problem is the number one key, really to anything in life. It’s not going to be fun in the short term but it will help immensely in the long term.”

Mind Reading (formerly Hollywood & Mind) is a recurring column that features interviews with musicians, actors, athletes, creators and other culture influencers who are elevating conversation and action around mental health, and breaking stigma.