Nikki DeLoach Movies That Didn't Land With Fans

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A member of the Mickey Mouse Club lineup, which also included future superstars Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, and Christina Aguilera, Nikki DeLoach initially looked set to follow in their footsteps when she joined the late '90s girl band Innosense. But when the group failed to take flight, she pivoted into acting, landed recurring roles in teen drama "Awkward," soap opera "Days of Our Lives" and "North Shore," and crime thriller "Ringer."

In the last decade, however, she has focused on challenging Lacey Chabert for the crown of Hallmark Channel Queen. Indeed, the Georgia native has appeared in nearly two dozen TV movies across the network, and it's Mystery and Movies since 2015. Of course, not all have landed with audiences as much as she hoped. From culinary whodunnits to festive romances, here's a look at the 12-lowest rated on IMDb.

"The detective is a jerk and the caterer is a weirdo." It's fair to say one particular IMDb user pulled no punches after watching the second instalment of "Curious Caterer," the murder mystery franchise in which Andrew Walker plays the former and Nikki DeLoach the latter, but they aren't credited as such.

In "Grilling Season," the duo team up again to investigate the mysterious death of a local realtor, a case which unfortunately inspired gasps of derision rather than amazement. "... The final development of the plot revealing the murderer and motive was so completely implausible that it destroyed enjoyment of the movie," an unimpressed viewer stated. "The methodology employed by the murderer was laughable, especially when given what would have been his level of knowledge and access."

Many readers who'd enjoyed the same-named book by Diane Mott Davidson it was adapted from also expressed their distaste with how certain aspects had been changed, including the leads' appearances, the omitting of a character's abusive traits, and a gender switch.

Although not to be confused with Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon's "Fever Pitch", "The Perfect Catch" — as its name suggests — still has a baseball connection. Here, Andrew Walker's Major League player Chase Taynor returns to his hometown and reunites with his high school girlfriend and struggling diner owner Jessica (played by Nikki DeLoach).

Unfortunately, the action both on and off the field failed to convince. Indeed, even some of Walker's most ardent fans admitted he lacked the athleticism to portray a professional baseball player. There was also confusion about why Jessica's ex-boyfriend — the man she dumps to be with Chase — was so ecstatic that they got together. Some took umbrage with how this public display of affection was staged, with one IMDb user writing, "The easiest and simple method would have been getting the stewards to make an announcement instead of a pregnant woman dropping down a 12ft wall and running across a field being chased by stewards."

Unfortunately, the film's leading lady was singled out for criticism, too. "I am tired of watching Nikki DeLoach, she over does it in a lot of her roles," one unimpressed reviewer stated. "She looks older than a lot of her male leads."

After several years away from the main Hallmark Channel to focus on its Movies and Mysteries offshoot, Nikki DeLoach — who lives a pretty normal life off camera — returned in 2024 with a seasonal romance that sounds like the stuff of nightmares. Here, she stars alongside Warren Christie as a couple who recount, in meticulous detail, exactly how they got together ... to their daughter's boyfriend! Talk about TMI.

"Our Holiday Story" was called out online for various reasons. Some viewers didn't appreciate how jumping between timelines caused confusion. Others felt the pair's daughter Joanna, played by Sydney Scotia, acted more like an immature teenager than a 27-year-old woman. One member of the fashion police complained about the prominent use of skinny jeans.

Ultimately, the general consensus was that DeLoach's Christmas comeback was the equivalent of watching paint dry. "I got bored and changed the channel after 15 minutes," one Reddit user admitted. Another responded, "After watching it, I couldn't believe I only had watched an hour and there was still another hour left. It really felt like hours at that point!"

As you can probably gather from its title, "Truly, Madly, Sweetly" centers its romance in one of Hallmark Channel's most popular industries, the cupcake bakery. Here, Nikki DeLoach plays a food truck owner who inherits a building from a regular customer, but she has to share it with Dylan Neal's finance bro divorcee. And as a historical site, the property will be hard to sell.

Luckily, the two strangers hit upon the brainwave of restoring their inheritance to its former glory: a bakery, of course. And pretty soon, the kitchen ovens aren't the only thing heating up. Well, that was the intention, anyway. According to several IMDb users, the romance between the pair fell flat.

"I agree there is no chemistry between the leads," one user remarked before further sticking the knife in to DeLoach. "Everyone, except the little girl and Neal, have zero personality or charisma. And I am beyond sick of every single Hallmark actress being a stick with the exact same stiff helmet of ringlets and face full of injectables. It's so distracting." Here's a look at Hallmark actors said to have the best chemistry.

"Curious Caterer: Dying for Chocolate" was the first of five Hallmark Channel films in which Nikki DeLoach played Goldy Berry, a caterer-turned-criminal investigator who joins Andrew Walker's detective to solve a friend's murder. And according to IMDb users, it's by far the least appetizing.

Some complained the story wasn't true to the source material, Diane Mott Davidson's 1992 book of the same name. "Hallmark has per its standard operating procedure has whitewashed and saccharin-ed this movie too death," one particularly disgruntled viewer remarked. "Hallmark has appropriated another cozy series ... and ruined it," moaned another. "They inserted their usual stable of blah faces that look nothing like the books' descriptions."

This also appeared to be the general consensus on Reddit, with one user commenting, "Someone should have read the books before casting this movie. Why have one-dimensional and cookie-cutter characters to play Goldy and Marla?" Still, the ratings were strong enough that the channel also decided to adapt "Grilling Season," "Fatal Vows," "Foiled Plans," and "Forbidden Fruit," too. Here's a look at how DeLoach and Walker are close off-screen, too.

"Cranboring" was the term several viewers amusingly coined for this festive Hallmark Channel film from 2020. In "Cranberry Christmas," Benjamin Ayres and Nikki DeLoach play a married, separated couple who put on a united front for the cameras to boost their hometown's annual yuletide festival. To the surprise of no one, life soon starts to imitate TV.

Some IMDb viewers had trouble buying into the apparent power of local television. Others noted that the lack of chemistry made it seem as though the two leads had only just met, but were supposed to be ten years into a marriage. One user took umbrage with the disappointing absence of cranberries.

However, the harshest criticism was aimed at Ayres' farmer Gabe and his toxic masculinity toward DeLoach's company boss Dawn. "She walks on eggshells about accepting the opportunities she's been working towards for her business because she doesn't want to break the fragile peace with her husband," one user pointed out. "She even turns down a TV show because she knows that he will leave her if she accepts it ... I want Hallmark to show healthy relationships and dynamics cuz this ain't it."

In 2020, Nikki DeLoach — whose real-life husband Ryan Goodell is a former '90s boybander — reunited with Andrew Walker for "Sweet Autumn," a seasonal tale with a similar premise to "Truly, Madly, Sweetly." Instead of inheriting a historical former bakery alongside a handsome financier, she inherits a candy store with a handsome farmer. Unfortunately, it was just a little too sugary sweet for some.

One IMDb user also pointed out Hallmark Channel's fondness for recycling storylines, before stipulating, "This one, however, is made worse by the dead aunt she inherited the candy store (SWEET Autumn, get it?) from reaching back from the grave by leaving cloying and hackneyed words of advice for the couple in order to bring them together."

Another wondered why the two leads, who also shared the screen in no fewer than five chapters of the "Curious Caterer" series, are such prolific co-stars. "[DeLoach] has no personality or maybe she has the same personality no matter the storyline. I honestly don't understand why they keep pairing her with Andrew Walker. They have ZERO chemistry."

In 2020's "Taking the Reins," Nikki DeLoach played an equestrian-turned-writer who rediscovers her first true passion and her passion for her ex-husband, while working on an assignment back in her hometown. DeLoach not only starred in the film, but she also served as executive producer. Unfortunately, not everyone appeared to appreciate her contributions.

The fact that her character Samantha had appeared to entirely forget her equestrian skills came under question from one Reddit user who noted, "My technical nitpick, she's ridden horses her whole life and competed. She stopped riding for just three years, yet she needs to be told how to hold the reins and sit in the saddle? Give me a break." There were similar comments over on IMDb, with one viewer remarking, "You would have thought they would have cast actors who could ride. The way they handled the reins you would have thought they were knitting."

This was from the movie's only problem, however. Others were left confused about why Samantha and Scott, played by "Friday Night Lights" alum Scott Porter, split in the first place and how they managed to overcome these vague issues that had kept them apart for three years in the blink of an eye. Still, the fact that the word "divorce" was said in a Hallmark movie is relatively progressive.

In another Hallmark tale that sounds suspiciously familiar, "Reunited at Christmas" sees Nikki DeLoach play a writer returning to her small hometown for a new project, a festive book, where she finds the meaning of true love (with a little help from her dead gingerbread-making grandmother). However, few viewers were convinced about her epiphany.

Initially, DeLoach's Samantha looks set to be a leading lady with more complex feelings than the norm. Although she accepts a surprise proposal from her boyfriend Simon — played by Mike Faiola — she soon regrets it and spends the rest of the film thinking about calling the engagement off. Of course, this being a Hallmark movie, there has to be a happy ending, and despite failing to show us why or how she became more comfortable with the idea, she eventually comes around.

While some viewers appreciated how "Reunited at Christmas" was a departure from the usual fairy tale romances, others were disappointed by its lack of wish fulfilment. "Spent two hours with people dealing with sadness, depression, and lies," noted one IMDb user. "There is too much of that out there in 'the real world.' Come to Hallmark to escape that, at least for a short period of time."

More of an ensemble piece than her usual Hallmark fare, "True Justice: Family Ties" features Nikki DeLoach as Professor Ambrose, whose law students attempt to find the real culprit behind a shocking murder to exonerate a wrongly accused man.

Despite her limited screen time, DeLoach wasn't immune from criticism directed toward the TV movie, which got a sequel two years later. Having written the script with regular working partner Megan McNulty, she was responsible for the story that incurred the most wrath: the plausibility.

"There are so many factual errors on court proceeding and evidence handling here, there are simply too many to name," one IMDb user who was perhaps expecting a little too much from a network not exactly renowned for its realism, and who also recommended that its writers should do more research from now on, adding, "It's obvious they have no idea how a trial is arranged and regulated." Another unimpressed viewer was also disappointed by the denouement, remarking, "As a murder mystery, the solution also seemed very random. No real clues to solve."

Two years after irritating experts with their lack of legal expertise, Nikki DeLoach and Megan McNulty wrote a second instalment of their "True Justice" series. This time around, the case revolved around a mom accused of taking Parent School Coalition politics to new murderous heights. Unfortunately, they failed to silence their critics.

"This has got to be one of the most absurd 'mysteries' ever to air on the Hallmark channel or any channel," one enraged IMDb user claimed about "Eye for an Eye" before dragging the self-proclaimed Justice Warriors for their failure to grasp basic protocol. "I'm not even going to mention the illegalities, stupid editing, sloppiness, bad wigs, and other incompetences in front of and behind the camera, because I am done with this," they added.

On Reddit, several viewers complained about the shoehorned love interest subplot which detracted from the central premise. "I don't know why they have to add an overused rom-com formula to a mystery movie, which pretty much ruined the mood for me," one commenter remarked. Despite all this further naysaying, another instalment, "Deep Cuts" — which will once again see DeLoach pull double duty for a third time as Professor Ambrose — is currently in post-production.

In "Christmas Land," Nikki DeLoach plays a big city girl who falls in love with Luke Macfarlane's lawyer after inheriting a small-town Christmas farm. But it didn't appear to get many viewers in the Yuletide spirit.

"Probably the worst Hallmark movie ever," commented one of many IMDb users who rated it one out of ten. "I wish there was some way to unwatch this piece of rubbish." Another described it as "possibly the most toxic movie ever seen." So why did what, on the surface, appears to be a relatively inoffensive and innocuous story stir up so many strong emotions?

Well, much of the ire was directed toward the denouement where DeLoach's Jules, previously a competent, savvy businesswoman, carelessly signs a contract that ultimately forces the town to put their hands in their pockets to save the day. It also leaves her paying nearly twice the price to get back the property she'd owned a week before, and sends a greedy real estate developer on his merry way with a cool $1.3 million. And unfathomably, this is all presented as a happy ending!