HALLMARK ACTOR NIKKI DELOACH HAD ONE IDEA FOR HER LIFE

But God and Her Grandmother Had a Better One

by Lauren Winfield

“I’VE LEARNED THAT PEOPLE will forget what you said. People will forget what you did. But they will never forget how you made them feel,” poet Maya Angelou once declared.

Nikki DeLoach would agree.

Starring in more than a dozen movies and counting for The Hallmark Channel, Nikki wasn’t planning on spending so much time on movie sets with Christmas trees and holly leaves early in her career. But by following her faith and listening to trusted family members, her path has produced some unexpected, yet heartwarming discoveries.

In the 1980s, Nikki grew up on a farm in southern Georgia, down the road from her grandmother Nana. Every Friday afternoon, Nikki would rent three new VHS tapes and park herself in front of

Nana’s TV to devour them over the weekend. To feed her granddaughter’s obsession with the arts, Nana signed up Nikki for dance, singing, and local pageants.

Winning a couple pageants sent Nikki to New York and Los Angeles, where she earned a spot on the widely-acclaimed relaunch of The Mickey Mouse Club. And that’s how Nikki began to sing and dance with castmates who would, in only a few short years, become some of that generation’s biggest stars: Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling, and Christina Aguilera to name a few.

When the show went off the air in 1996, savvy parents and managers capitalized on the cast’s success and launched them into the next phase of their careers. In the late ‘90s, that meant pop boy bands and girl groups. Nikki and castmate Britney Spears were placed in a group called Innosense.

Twelve months later, Britney’s career as a solo artist exploded—but for the rest of Innosense, it never did. By the early 2000s, Nikki found herself out of the group and struggling to pay for groceries.

“I spent a lot of my early twenties looking up at God and being like, Why not me? I work as hard as everyone else. I’m just as talented as everyone else. Did You forget about me?’ But I didn’t realize He was deeply taking care of me, because I don't think I would’ve been able to handle that kind of fame at a young age. I know for a fact I wouldn’t be the person I am today.”

By the mid-2000s, Nikki left music behind to focus on acting. And after a decade of solid work on TV and film, she got a comment from Nana that every young professional actor must receive from a grandparent: “I want you to be in one of those Hallmark Christmas movies.”

“I called my agent and I said, “How do you feel about calling Hallmark?” Nikiki remembers. “Sure enough, I got an offer for a Hallmark Christmas movie. My grandmother was over the moon.”

It didn’t take long for Nikki to realize her new work resonated more than anything she’d ever done in her career.

“When that movie aired in 2015, I’d never received a reaction like this from my hometown. The joy and happiness, warmth and love, it just poured out of them. And I thought, Whoa. There’s something happening with these movies that’s making people feel a certain way. And I want to be a part of making people feel that way.

As Nikki’s career finally felt like it was falling into place, she encountered one of the biggest hardships of her life. In 2017, while she was pregnant with her younger son Bennett, he was diagnosed with four congenital heart defects. Bennett would need three heart surgeries and countless visits to the ER over the next five years.

“I was living in a state of emergency, to be honest. I was not in a position to audition and try to get that next big show; I just wanted to keep my child alive. I needed to work to keep our health insurance, and Hallmark kept me going.”

And Nikki made the most of newfound television home. She’s writing and producing her own projects at Hallmark, so that she can shape stories that inspire and comfort viewers. “I think for me, it was a divine calling,” Nikki says. “That little whisper inside of me seven years ago that said, Pay attention to this, the way that you're making people feel matters, that has ended up becoming such a giant part of my life today. It’s such a blessing.”

To find out about the latest movie starring Nikki, follow her on social media.