The Hallmark On-Screen Partner Nikki DeLoach Calls Her Favorite: 'He's Like A Brother To Me'

Nicole "Nikki" DeLoach has firmly established herself as one of Hallmark's favorite leading ladies, having starred in more than two dozen of the network's films. As such, she's acted alongside several other devoted Hallmark favorites, such as Brennan Elliott and Kristoffer Polaha. However, one co-star has managed to stand out to DeLoach: Andrew Walker. The two are often falling in love on-screen, and they share a lot of love off-screen, as well, even if it's usually more platonic or familial than it is romantic.

In a 2023 interview with Woman's World, DeLoach spoke about her love for the entire Hallmark family and the many stories she's accrued ever since joining the network. "It offers me the opportunity to tell such a variety of different stories at our network and work with so many different people who I love and I respect," she explained. Apparently, Walker has been a very important part of that process, with DeLoach adding, "And also to work with some of the same people who are beloved to me like Andrew Walker, he's like a brother to me."

Walker is himself a Hallmark fan favorite, and he and DeLoach definitely have some great on-screen chemistry. Their first movie was "A Dream of Christmas," which came out in 2016. The two followed up their debut with "The Perfect Catch" and "Sweet Autumn" before they were cast as the leads in the "Curious Caterer" franchise. DeLoach is the titular caterer, Goldy Berry, and Walker plays Detective Tom Schultz.

Nikki DeLoach has actually spoken about the chemistry that she has with Andrew Walker on their Hallmark movies. In a conversation with Us Weekly about one of their "Curious Caterer" films, she admitted, "You try to find that banter, that energy, and you can feel it when you're in it." It wasn't something that they had to work too hard at with each other, either. As DeLoach described it, "Andrew and I just had that out of the gate. We always say that we must've known each other in other lifetimes because we felt like we met each other, and we had been friends our entire lives." That connection certainly comes through on-screen.

As for DeLoach and Walker's off-screen friendship, it started with a bond over similar life experiences during their first Hallmark film. "What was really cool is we immediately connected over kids, because we were just being new parents," Walker explained to People in 2020.

DeLoach's chemistry with Walker and her success at Hallmark is the latest iteration in DeLoach's career transformation. At the age of 12, she appeared in "The Mickey Mouse Club," which was a first job for many performers, including Britney Spears, Ryan Gosling, and Justin Timberlake. She was also part of a girl pop groupr a while. We're happy she found a home at Hallmark, and we hope to see more of her work opposite Walker.