You Had To Be There #81: Nikki DeLoach

This week, Nikki and Sara borrow a studio deep within the Nerdist HQ to bring you more LA updates. Having recently regained consciousness, Sara explains her humbling near-death experience with a bug. Then Nikki tells what was going through her mind during her wholly successful Conan set and shares the compliments the host/her hero paid afterward. In continuing the theme Teen Stars Done Good (see ep. 80), this week’s guest is Nikki DeLoach (The All New Mickey Mouse Club, Awkward). Nikki was a part of the MMC cast with Spears, Gosling, and Timberlake and lived the 90s fantasy of girl groups, perms, and popstar boyfriends. After some reminiscing, Nikki details how she broke out of the machine and strove to get herself educated and acclimated to a realer world. Before long, she reentered the industry with the perspective required to tackle more challenging projects, like her current role as the extremely imperfect mother Lacey on MTV’s Awkward. The episode closes on a very thorough pee-talking session featuring sincere shout-outs to Chris Gethard for his brilliant letter to a troubled fan, Greg Fitzsimmons for his unrivaled podcast, and the fundraisers springing up in Nikki D’s hometown to support a girl with cancer. Dig in.

Download now (MP3), grab it from iTunes, or listen to the stream below.

You Had To Be There #81: Nikki DeLoach