Nico Santos is a Filipino-American actor and singer who was born on April 7, 1979, in Manila, Philippines. He moved to the Gresham, Oregon, in the United States with his family when he was sixteen. Santos went on to study acting at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, Oregon. He received support from his mother who he described as not a "stereotypical Asian Tiger Mom". Santos went on to work in the costume department of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. After several years in the costume department, he moved to California where he worked as a stand-up comic. He went on to work on the Chelsea Lately show and earned a role on the 2018 comedy film "Crazy Rich Asians". Santos has also appeared in the film Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2, as well as the shows 2 Broke Girls, and Go-Go Boy Interrupted.

He also went on to write for the E! Network's Fashion Police show. Santos revealed he was gay in 2018 and announced he was in a relationship with Zeke Smith publicly on his Twitter page. Smith is known for being on the 33rd - Millennials vs. Gen X as well as the 34th - Game Changers editions of the CBS game show Survivor.