Niklas and Karin Agild on balancing parenthood and the public eye post ‘Love is Blind: Sweden’

Just over nine months ago, unbeknownst to her, Karin Agild (née Karin Westerberg) had her last drink before discovering she was pregnant. She and her husband, Niklas Agild, whom she wed in front of the world on Love is Blind: Sweden, were at a festival in Piteå and Karin was enjoying a 50cl beer as Niklas snapped pictures on his iPhone. “We woke up the next morning, we’re hungover, and I just immediately said, ‘I need to take the bike to the store and buy a pregnancy test’ because I had a feeling she was pregnant,” says Niklas, noting that Karin was certain she was not pregnant. “I bought a piece of bread, a pregnancy test and an ice cream for me. I had the ice cream on the way home and I gave Karin the bread and the pregnancy test. And it was positive.” Would Karin have savoured that last beer a bit more had she known a dry nine months was coming? “Yes, I would have,” she says, laughing.

A lot has changed for Niklas and Karin in the past year or so. They met and fell in love in the strangest of ways; through a wall, sight unseen on the second season of Love is Blind: Sweden. They got engaged (still, without seeing each other) and then married just a few weeks later. Then, when the show aired on Netflix, they went from private people to full-blown celebrities; fan favourites recognised everywhere they go (by young women, most of all). Karin revealed her pregnancy at the reunion, at which point she was already past her due date. And just one month ago, baby Lill arrived.

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As most first-time parents will tell you, no parenting book can prepare you for the feeling of coming home from the hospital with a brand new baby. “I thought I was prepared, because you’re pregnant for nine months,” says Karin. “…But then you’re not. Because you’re still like, ‘This is our child. It’s not someone’s we borrowed’. To understand that, it takes a while.” Niklas nods, adding, “It feels like when you think about space – when you think about it, it’s never-ending, it’s too much. When you think that she’s going to be here forever, It’s pretty hard to take in, so you take it hour by hour, that’s all you can do. I think you’ll never understand, more or less, and then all of a sudden they’re 15 or 20 years old and we’re like, ‘Are we parents?!’”

We’re sitting in the couple’s new Stockholm apartment, where the Vogue Scandinavia team has taken over, turning their kitchen area into a glam station, a bedroom into a wardrobe. The couple (and Niklas’ mom, a thrilled first-time grandmother who has joined to help out with Lill) welcomed us with the same easygoing charm that won over viewers of Love is Blind. Niklas hands out Nocco energy drinks from a stash in the fridge – some cases were sent over shortly after the show aired; a perfect gift for a first-time sleep-deprived dad.

Lill Agild entered the world on April 11th, just eight days after the Love is Blind reunion aired on Netflix. “Karin always wanted the baby to have a short name, so our process has been that I have come up with names and she has said ‘No’ or ‘Yes’,” says Niklas. “From the beginning, Niklas was so sure that it was a boy, and then the name was going to be Bill. So we just changed from B to L,” says Karin. Given that she was 11 days past her due date, Karin was induced. As the couple waited in the hospital for Lill to come, they watched the Netflix series Adolescence – perhaps not the wisest choice for soon-to-be parents. “I cried so much,” says Karin, laughing at the memory. “We even have it on film, I’m like, ‘Why are we watching this?!’” Still, you can’t say the couple isn’t loyal to Netflix.

One month later, Karin and Niklas are in a rather strange position, balancing their newfound public personas and new parenthood. They have over 100k followers a piece on Instagram (Karin leads with 153k) – more than twice the following of most of their cast mates on Love is Blind: Sweden season 2. For Karin in particular, it was a bit tricky at first. “Niklas has been better than me at having that balance, because in the beginning, it was so much hormones for me, it was hard to find the balance with everything,” says Karin. “It was so many people writing to us and I wanted to answer everyone but I didn’t have the time and she was screaming. So for me, it was kind of messy in my head.”

Both Niklas and Karin mention the screaming, though Lill is remarkably quiet and adorable throughout or photoshoot. “I knew there was going to be screaming, but not to that extent,” admits Karin. “I thought I would walk around with a latte in my hand and everything would be fine. But then it was a reality check, like she’s screaming for hours. And that feeling was something you can’t really prepare for.”

She and Niklas quickly settled into a rhythm, however, sharing parenting duties more or less 50/50 (including tending to Lill as she screams in the evening. Niklas is often the one on middle-of-the-night walking duty). Once the baby came, Niklas quit his job (he previously worked in golf sales ) to focus on fatherhood with a bit of influencing on the side (these days, he and Karin both have a manager to handle brand partnerships). “I think it’s good that we have our little girl who takes all the focus,” says Niklas. “Things are super grounded and we understand what’s important to us.” Now, Karin thinks it’s “easier and more fun” when people stop her on the street to say hello. “In the beginning I was like, ‘Don’t look at me!’,” she jokes, adding that she’s been partial to “soft clothes” for the past month, a far cry from the sharply tailored suiting she wore for our shoot.

Sharing Lill on socials felt natural for a couple whose entire love story has been public. “She’s so tiny – we’ll probably have to have that discussion again when she gets bigger and looks like a person, now she looks like a baby,” says Niklas. “But you’re so proud when you get your baby, you want to show her to the world. If I wouldn’t have so many followers, I would do the same thing.”

The couple has managed to squeeze in one date night since Lill arrived (luckily Niklas’ parents live close by and are more than happy to babysit). About a week prior, they went to see Bella Leonette perform at Fotografiska. “We’ve listened to her music our whole journey – it’s been like the soundtrack to our relationship,” says Niklas. “It was weird though – you feel almost criminal to be leaving [Lill] somewhere and doing something else, because she’s with you all the time. But it was amazing to just go out and have a drink and be the two of us.” This weekend Niklas has another recreational activity planned, though not with Karin; he’ll be playing a round of golf with fellow Love is Blind contestant Oscar.

And though the couple is taking it day by day, they are looking forward to one thing in particular. “We’re waiting for Lill’s first smile,” says Niklas. “She’s so close.”