Whatever Happened To Nikki Blonsky?

In 2007, 18-year-old Nikki Blonsky made audiences around the world feel the beat when she starred in the musical comedy "Hairspray," playing the happy-go-lucky Tracy Turnblad, a plus-sized high school student living in 1960s Baltimore with aspirations of becoming a dancer on "The Corny Collins Show," a campy regional version of "American Bandstand." The role was a dream come true for Blonsky, who had auditioned for the musical's stage version, but had been turned down for being too young. Fortunately, by the time auditions for the movie came around, she was the perfect age for the part, and her singing and dancing skills helped "Hairspray" become a massive hit at the box office.

Since then, Blonsky has continued to act, carving out a career in film, TV, and on social media. And while she hasn't become the household name that some of her "Hairspray" co-stars are, she remains a very outspoken public figure. Here are just some of the things Nikki Blonsky has been up to since starring in "Hairspray."

Blonsky earned high praise for her performance as Tracy Turnblad in "Hairspray," with acclaimed film critic Roger Ebert writing, "Without somebody like Nikki Blonsky at the heart of the movie, it might fall flat, but everybody works at her level of happiness, including her teen contemporaries Zac Efron, Taylor Parks, and Elijah Kelly."

So it came as no surprise when Blonsky was nominated for several prestigious acting awards, and ended up taking a few home with her. She received nominations for both a Golden Globe Award for best actress in a musical or comedy and a Screen Actors Guild Award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture. She also won two Critics Choice Awards for best young actress and best acting ensemble, a Hollywood Film Award for ensemble of the year, and a Young Hollywood Award for "One to Watch."

The nominations continued to come for her later work. In 2010, Blonsky was nominated for a Teen Choice Award for her work in the American teen drama TV series "Huge."

Playing Tracy Turnblad in "Hairspray" — not to mention starring in a major motion picture — are both major accomplishments that would satisfy most people's bucket lists. But Blonsky also quickly added another star to her resume when she made her New York cabaret debut at Feinstein's at Loews Regency in 2008. The posh New York supper club was founded by multi-platinum-selling, Grammy-nominated entertainer Michael Feinstein, who featured several notable performers, including "Glee" actress Lea Michele, Tony Award-winning singer Betty Buckley, and comedian Jane Krakowski, throughout the 2000s.

Still only 18 years old, Blonsky performed both Broadway songs and tunes from the "Great American Songbook" during her musical set. She also sang more contemporary pop classics, including Bonnie Raitt's "Something to Talk About," Frank Wildhorn's "Big Time," and of course several selections from "Hairspray." Although she seemed very young to headline such a performance, Blonsky was already a seasoned singer, as she told a reporter for The Guardian in 2007, "I grew up singing since the age of three. Vocally trained since the age of eight. Fascinated by Mary Poppins and all those musical movies and really knew that I wanted to be a performer."

Sadly, controversy and scandal are two things that many young performers have a hard time distancing themselves from. For Nikki Blonsky, this happened at the age of 19 when, while waiting to fly home from Providenciales International Airport following a Caribbean vacation, Blonsky's family encountered Bianca Golden, a former contestant from "America's Next Top Model."

Stories vary on exactly what happened, with a "Today" article stating that Blonsky's attorney reported to "Access Hollywood" that Blonsky told Bianca she was holding some seats in a small departure lounge for her parents. Bianca then allegedly stuck her finger in Blonsky's face, called her "a white b****" and punched her four times in the side of the head. According to this version of the story, Nikki's brother got into the fight while Bianca's mother Elaine began choking Nikki. Meanwhile, a 2008 People magazine article reports that Bianca claimed in an appearance on "The Tyra Banks Show" that Blonsky kicked her mother in the groin while Blonsky's father Carl punched Bianca's mother in the face. Following the incident, Nikki and Bianca were charged with actual bodily harm, although both were soon released on bail. Later, all assault charges against Nikki and Bianca were dropped. Nikki's father Carl spent over a week in jail, although he was eventually released on $3000 cash bail.

Speaking out about the brawl to People magazine, Nikki stated that both she and her father were "completely destroyed" by the incident.

Most of Nikki Blonsky's projects directly after "Hairspray" were on TV. She appeared as herself on episodes of the American reality show "Ace of Cakes" and "The Real Housewives of New York City." She also played a conniving Elle magazine assistant in an episode of "Ugly Betty" before scoring a main role on the MTV supernatural television miniseries "Valemont" as Poppy Barker, a student at a college for vampires.

Shortly afterward, Blonsky played Willamena "Will" Rader in "Huge," an ABC teen drama TV series based on a young adult novel series about eight teens sent to a summer weight loss camp. The show tackled sensitive issues like bullying and body shaming. It received positive reviews from critics but was canceled after one season. Following this, Blonsky appeared in episodes of "The Fresh Beat Band" and "Rocco's Dinner Party." In 2013, she was cast in a recurring role for the musical drama television series "Smash" and has appeared in "Life Unfiltered" and "Quarantine."

Speaking out about plus-size women roles in Hollywood, Blonsky stated in a 2002 Yahoo! Life article, "[I] didn't understand why there couldn't be more movies with plus-sized leads ... Why can't a plus girl play the girl next door or the pretty attractive sex symbol? You know, why not?"

Years before starring in "Hairspray," Blonsky got to rub shoulders with a celebrity from her hometown of Great Neck, New York: Olympic gold medalist figure skater Sarah Hughes, who made history in 2002 with her triple-jump triple-jump combination. This prompted her hometown to throw a big celebration and, during Hughes' homecoming parade, Blonsky sang an original song for the returning champion.

Blonsky also volunteers regularly for the Special Olympics and — in 2007, during the New York State games at Hofstra University — she got to sing the National Anthem at the opening ceremonies. During her performance, 3000 Olympians in attendance sang along with her.

This wasn't the only time Blonsky sang the Star-Spangled Banner professionally. In 2008, before the running of the Toyota – Save Mart 350 at the Infineon Raceway, she performed again in front of a huge crowd of racing fans.

It almost seems too perfect to discover that a woman who got famous for appearing in a musical titled "Hairspray" eventually became a professional hairstylist and make-up artist herself. But in 2011, that's exactly what happened, when Nikki Blonsky got her cosmetology license and began working at a salon in New York. On December 11, 2011, she tweeted: "Its true Im workin@ Superstar Salon as a makeup artist & more Im proud 2 b workin @ helpin pay bills BUT ill NEVER loose sight of my dreams."

This willingness to work jobs some might consider less glamorous than acting is nothing new to Blonsky, who had previously worked at both Cold Stone Creamery and a shoe store. Commenting on this new development, a 2011 E! News article wrote, "[C]redit where credit's due: Nikki may be one of the most realistic and respectable actresses in the biz, 'cause when times get tough at least she's not turning to some sleazy reality series or stripping down for cash."

And Blonsky made good on her promise to follow her dreams by continuing to audition for new roles during this time. To this day, she continues to appear in television and film, showing that even when producers aren't knocking down your door, you can still be a regular working actor.

While her original attempts to star in the Broadway stage musical version of "Hairspray" were dashed because she was too young, Blonsky was later cast in the Off-Broadway play "Stuffed" in 2017. Written by comedian Lisa Lampanelli, who also starred in the production, "Stuffed" delves into the relationship between women, food, and body image. Blonsky was set to play a key role, but ended up having to drop out during the play's preview performances due to illness. She did get to act in one performance, but her role was later officially taken over by her understudy Lauren Ann Brickman.

In a statement that was shared in a 2017 article in Playbill about Blonsky's departure, Lampanelli stated, "I am so so sorry Nikki had to leave the production... When we cast her as Marty, the confident plus-sized girl in the show, I was over the moon because Nikki Blonsky embodies that character to a T. Unfortunately, for us and for her, the timing put us behind schedule, and the two of us agreed this was for the good of the show. I will always love and admire Nikki and what she represents and I really hope we can work together on something in the future."

However, "Stuffed" ended up closing early after only 31 previews and 23 regular performances. One can only hope Blonsky eventually reaches her dream of performing professionally on Broadway, but so far that hasn't happened. 

While Nikki Blonsky was poised to be a rising star following her debut in "Hairspray," big movie roles did not immediately start coming her way, and most of her initial follow-up work ended up on television in series such as "Huge" or TV movies like "Queen Sized."

Nevertheless, Blonsky continued to audition for movies and eventually returned to film. In 2010, she appeared in the romance "Waiting for Forever" about two childhood friends trying to reconnect. This was followed by the dramedy "Geography Club" and the romantic comedy "The English Teacher," both in 2013. In 2019, Blonsky took a step away from her familiar romantic comedy genre and took on a role in a horror film, "Ghost in the Graveyard," about a ghost who comes back to haunt the teens who witnessed her death as children.

However, few of Blonsky's later films received the universal acclaim "Hairspray" enjoyed.

The video-sharing website Cameo has allowed many actors, singers, and performers to operate a nice side business by recording greetings to fans who pay to have a personalized message from their favorite celebrity. In Nikki Blonsky's case, a live Cameo she did for jewelry maker Hailey Jo Jenson led to immediate sparks. After Hailey began DMing her, Blonsky invited Hailey to visit her in LA, and the two soon began dating.

Although Blonsky had been in heterosexual relationships before, a 2022 New York Post article reports that she admitted, "I never really enjoyed my time spent in the bedroom with men." After realizing she had been living her life to please other people, she moved away from dating men and realized, "It wasn't the scariest thing in the world ... I found out it was exactly where I needed to be, romantically. I needed to not be dating guys because it was nothing but bad, bad bad; bad story after bad story."

Her relationship with Hailey continued to go well and in October 2022, Blonsky announced their engagement on Instagram, writing, "I've played plenty of characters in love in my life and it has been a blessing, but the greatest blessing in life is real love, true love and I am honored to finally feel unconditional love, and a love that is pure."

In 2013, Nikki Blonsky played the gay character "Therese" in the movie "Geography Club" and told Allison Interviews in 2022 that "I remember feeling so free because that character was so herself ... By me playing her and letting her just be herself and being gay, proud, wearing her goth makeup and her leather jacket and her Doc Martens, she felt so cool."

At the time, Blonsky was not clear on her own sexuality, but felt playing a gay character helped her gain the courage to be herself. She got into a relationship with a woman before coming out in 2020, first on Alec Mapa's Instagram Live during a charity event for the Transgender Law Center, and then in a TikTok video where she sang along to the Diana Ross song "I'm Coming Out" while displaying the caption, "Hi, its Nikki Blonsky from the movie I'm Gay! #pride #imcomingout #hairspray."

Blonsky had supported the LGBTQIA community prior to all this, performing at many Pride and LGBTQ events. Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter in 2020, she shared, "The LGBTQIA community has embraced me since the moment I got 'Hairspray.' They welcomed me with open arms and I felt so a part of the community already. For me, it was a long time coming. I was wanting to date women and it just was a moment in my life where I was finally just really ready to be myself."

While many audiences have seen Nikki Blonsky in TV series and movies, many may not have realized her voice has been floating around everywhere in the entertainment business as well. In 2016, Blonsky was cast as the voice of Lady Paw Paw in the children's film "Pup Star." The movie, a comedic take on shows like "The Voice" and "America's Got Talent," follows several talking dogs competing in a televised singing competition. Lady Paw Paw is one of the show's judges who evaluates the contestants alongside parodies of other celebrity judge personalities like Simon Growl (a play on Simon Cowell).

The movie proved popular enough to spawn two sequels including "Pup Star: Better 2Gether" (2017) and "Pup Star: World Tour" (2018), and Blonsky was able to reprise her role in both. More recently, in 2023, Blonsky was cast in "A Voice in Violet," a podcast drama/mystery series about a damaged singer who seeks revenge on her manipulative former music manager after he destroys her career. Nikki plays Charlotte, the manager's girlfriend, who also becomes one of Violet's targets.

The podcast went on to win six awards, including an Award of Excellence for production for audio & voice from the Communicator Awards and another Award of Excellence for narration/voice-over talent from the Accolade Competition.

"Hairspray" allowed Nikki Blonsky to work with a huge lineup of well-known Hollywood names, including Zac Efron, Queen Latifah, Christopher Walken, and Amanda Bynes. However, one celebrity made a particularly strong impression on Blonsky: Legendary "Grease" star John Travolta who played Blonsky's mom, Edna. In an interview given to Allison Interviews, Blonsky remembers that during the filming of "Hairspray," Travolta told her to, "Always stay true to Nikki. Always be Nikki. Don't change for this industry don't, you know, just do what feels right in your heart."

At the time, Blonsky was amazed that someone as busy as Travolta would continue reaching out to her. But as the years passed, he continued to talk to her every year on birthdays and holidays. Blonsky also reached out to him, making sure he heard from her first when she came out, and recalls how supportive he was.

"It's almost like light just beams out of his heart," she stated. "He lightens up a room. He always finds the good, the positive. He makes everybody feel like when he's talking to you, that you are the only person there. And you feel like the most special person in the world."