‘Hairspray’ star Nikki Blonsky on coming out, how John Travolta was her drag mom

“Hairspray” star Nikki Blonsky was just 18 years old when she landed her first-ever acting role as Tracy Turnblad in 2007’s “Hairspray.” She found herself amongst child stars Zac Efron and Amanda Bynes and legends Michelle Pfeiffer, Christopher Walken and Queen Latifah — and, of course, John Travolta.

Now, 15 years later, Blonsky appeared on Tuesday’s episode of the “Allison Interviews” podcast and recalled how Travolta — who dressed in drag and played Tracy’s mom, Edna — helped build her confidence.

“‘Always be yourself.’ That is what John told me,” Blonsky, now 33, told host Allison Kugel.

“He said, ‘Always stay true to Nikki. Don’t change for this business or anybody in the business. Don’t take any roles that don’t feel right to you. Do it your way. Just do what feels right in your heart.’ I have taken that with me through every movie, every TV show and every life experience that I’ve gone through,” she said.

“’Hairspray’ was the greatest blessing in the world in my life, but my relationship with John and his advice really is something that I could have never fathomed,” Blonsky added. “I would never have imagined somebody who is so busy and one of the biggest stars in the world would take so much time to take care of the people he loves, or that I would be one of those people that he reaches out to continuously.”

She added that they talk “every year” on their birthdays and on holidays, saying it “means so much” to her.

“It’s almost like light just beams out of his heart. He lightens up a room. He always finds the good and the positive,” she spoke of the actor and “Grease” icon.

“He makes everybody feel like when he’s talking to you, that you are the only person there. You feel like the most special person in the world. Not many people have that quality to do that for other people. He just makes you feel so incredibly special, and he is so genuine and down to earth, real and human,” Blonsky beamed.

She also shed more light on coming out as gay at the age of 30 during the podcast. Even before she said she knew she was a lesbian, Blonsky played a gay character in the 2013 movie “Geography Club.” She said the character helped her find the courage to be herself.

‘I never really enjoyed my time spent in the bedroom with men.’

“This character was so out and open and free. I remember feeling so free because that character was so herself,” Blonsky said. “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.

“That gave me the freedom to say, ‘You know what, I’m going to dress how I want,” she said of the role. “I’m going to live how I want, and I’m not going to care anymore if there are paparazzi at the airport or TMZ catch me in my leggings and my hoodie.’”

Blonsky shared that she always felt “different” but she “thought that was the actor side of me” and finally realized that she was living her life to please other people when she finally took the leap to date a woman.

“Then I did and guess what? It wasn’t the scariest thing in the world,” she said. “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.”

“I was engaged, and I never wanted to have sex with him, ever,” Blonsky admitted.

“Sorry if he hears this. I never really enjoyed it. I’m going to be 34, so I can talk about my sex life now, I guess, and I never really enjoyed my time spent in the bedroom with men. Once I had an encounter with a woman I thought, ‘Oh, OK. Now I feel more like myself. Now I’m enjoying it. I’m here, and I want to be here,’” she said.

Now, Blonsky and her girlfriend Hailey — who uses they/them pronouns — are coming up on their six-month anniversary of dating.

“Hailey is amazing and quite crafty,” Blonsky laughed on the podcast.

“It started, I believe, on Cameo,” she said of the website where users pay celebrities for personalized video messages.  

“I was doing a live Cameo that Hailey had purchased, and we spoke live, face to face.  After we got off, I thought, ‘Wow. That is just a gorgeous human,’” she explained on the podcast. “I was taken by their beauty and then I remember seeing them on TikTok.

“I went into my inbox and Hailey had slid into my DMs. I thought, ‘Yes! Best DM slide ever,’ and I obviously thought, ‘Oh my gosh. Hi!’” Blonsky recalled. “I had been thinking about them ever since that call, so that is kind of how we met. I invited Hailey to come out and visit me in LA, and we’ve been together ever since,” she said.

Blonsky has two movies set to be released — as well as a memoir — in 2023, according to podcast host Kugel.