Navigating grief is one of the most complicated feelings one can experience, and no one knows it better than Nikki DeLoach.
One of Hallmark’s most beloved and cherished actresses is opening up five years after her father’s death, sharing an emotional message with fans on Instagram. DeLoach, who stars in Hallmark Channel’s“A Grand Ole Opry Christmas,” wrote about how grief has changed shape over time rather than disappearing.
Nikki DeLoach Reflects on Five Years Without Her Father
“Yesterday marked five years. Five years,” DeLoach wrote. “I still can’t fully fathom it. The way grief works, how it shape shifts. How you learn, slowly, to carry it differently. Not lighter necessarily. Just… differently.”
She also credited the people around her with helping her through the difficult anniversary.
“I’ve learned not to carry it alone. So I don’t. I surround myself with people who fill my heart with joy and remind me that love doesn’t end,” DeLoach wrote.
How Nikki DeLoach Honored Her Dad in New York City
DeLoach spent the day walking through New York while listening to her father’s favorite music. She also visited St. Patrick’s Cathedral, where she lit a candle and quietly reflected on their bond.
“I walked the city of NYC and listened to his favorite music. I went to St. Patrick’s Cathedral and sat with my dad. I lit a candle for him. For my kids. For the world. I took care of my heart the way he always took care of mine,” she wrote.
DeLoach closed her post with a deeply personal message to her father.
“Because even when our hearts ache (especially then) we can honor the love that never leaves. We can celebrate it. Hold it up to the light and say, this will always matter,” she wrote. “Five years without you, Dad. And still, somehow, always, with you. Thank you for never leaving my side. I love you times infinity.”
Why ‘A Grand Ole Opry Christmas’ Is Personal for Nikki DeLoach
The anniversary comes as DeLoach promotes a role that closely reflects her own experience with grief. In “A Grand Ole Opry Christmas,” she plays the daughter of a country music legend who abandons her singing career after her father’s death.
She has frequently given fans a closer look at her journey through grief.
Speaking at Hallmark’s Countdown to Christmas launch event in Nashville in November 2025, DeLoach explained why the project meant so much to her.
“I’ll just share the story of why this meant so much. I grew up in the South and knew I wanted to be a performer when I was 4 years old. My dad and I- music was our love language,” she said, as quoted by Just Jared.
“We started listening to A Grand Ole Opry radio show when I was a little girl, and he would drive me to and from my music lessons. We would listen to Vince Gill, Pam Tillis, and all the greats and he would say to me, ‘One day, if you work hard enough, you can be up on that stage.’ And I would say, ‘Dad, that’s for Dolly, that’s for Martina McBride, that’s never going to happen.’”
She added, “Well, one of the places that I always wanted to go to with my dad, we were going to go together, was the Grand Ole Opry. And he got sick and passed away before we were able to go. So the fact that I got to come here and film a movie inside these walls and stand on that stage, it was one of the most meaningful experiences of my life.”
How Did Nikki DeLoach’s Father Die?
GettyBackground via Canva: Bokeh of Purple Hearts by Four_season_lover
DeLoach’s father died in 2021 after living with Pick’s disease, a rare form of frontotemporal dementia, as per Women’s World. He received his diagnosis during the same month DeLoach learned she was pregnant with her son Bennett, who was later diagnosed with four heart defects.
DeLoach has said there was never any question that her son’s health had to come first, even as she struggled with the emotional weight of her father’s illness. Five years later, she continues to honor him through the memories she shares, the stories she tells and the roles she brings to the screen.
