Joe Santagato will look back on 2024 quite fondly — especially when he glances down at his wrist.
After selling out an 18-city podcast tour and completing the New York City Marathon, Santagato gifted himself “a very expensive watch” that cost “an insane amount of money.”
“It was a Patek Nautilus 5711 [1A-010], and it’s my holy grail watch. It’s the watch that I’ve always wanted,” the content creator, 32, tells Page Six in an exclusive interview.
The 5711/1A-010 was the luxury watch company’s bestselling model until its discontinuation in 2021. And according to Chrono24, the current average resale price is $110,000.
Santagato tells us the “big boujee purchase” happened before he and his “Basement Yard” co-host, Frank “Frankie” Alvarez, closed out their North American tour in October with not one but two sold-out shows at Radio City Music Hall, which has a seating capacity of just under 6,000.
“That’s insane to think about. Like, it’s crazy to think that we were able to do that,” Santagato marvels. “Even listing the tickets and [seeing] all the shows selling out like that — there was a moment of me being like, ‘Whoa,’ because I’m a control freak, and I like to set my expectations lower than maybe we need and just be conservative that way just so we’re not overshooting anything.
“But that was not even close to what I was projecting or foreseeing,” he continues. “Like, we had plans to make a lot more content to keep promoting the shows throughout the year. But then it just all sold out, and that was just not part of the plan at all. So I was just kind of very shocked by that.”
Santagato praises his small-yet-mighty team numerous times throughout our chat, gushing, “I’m so proud of everyone because a lot of people just stepped up. We all have never done this before.”
At the same time, the New York City native was getting ready to do something else for the first time: run 26.2 miles in the world’s largest marathon.
“I will be honest — I feel like I should have trained a little better,” he confesses. “But it was hard, obviously, because we were doing the tour, so we were in a bunch of different cities, so I was always packing sneakers and trying to go on runs when I could.”
Santagato admits he experienced moments during the race, which is held annually in November, when he “didn’t think” he’d be able to finish it.
“Like, I had never really trained for runs or anything like that. I’ve only done a 5K race in the past,” he shares. “I trained for this, and I did it, and it was painful as f–k. But now I’m running more. Like, today I ran a 5K in the morning, and I’m trying to add it into my workout routine more. And I don’t know if there will be another [marathon] in the future. Who knows? But it was very important to me.”
Santagato goes on to tell us he comes from “a family of very hardworking people” who have “crazy work ethics.” Therefore, the YouTuber-turned-podcaster’s chosen career — although fun and successful — has “always been an insecurity” of his.
“This year, specifically, I was like, ‘If we can do the tour and continue all the content that we’re putting out on a regular schedule, and I’m able to train for and complete the marathon, I’ll know that I’ve kicked that insecurity out.’ … The fact that I was able to do that in a year, like, that meant a lot to me,” he explains.
“So crossing that finish line — it was f–king hell, by the way — was a defining moment in my life that I’ll remember.”
Santagato’s new watch, he says, serves as a physical representation of his 2024 as a whole.
“I was like, ‘I need to have this before [performing at Radio City] because if I have this watch, I’ll always be able to kind of look back on it and remember, you know, that year and that thing,’” he shares.
“And I knew I was running the marathon a month after that. It was exactly, I think, a month after the Radio City show[s]. So I was like, ‘If I have this thing’ — this is how I’m justifying it — ‘then I’ll be able to look back on it and just be very proud of that moment.’”
The internet personality tells us he “had some wine” and then pulled the plug on buying his dream timepiece.
“I’m very happy with it. I’m glad that I have it,” he explains. “And I tell my mom it’s an investment and that hopefully it holds its value, which I’m sure it will.”
