The Truth About Amanda Kloots And Nick Cordero's Marriage
When Amanda Kloots met fellow Broadway performer Nick Cordero for the first time, she was too focused to let sparks fly. "He was the very tall man in the corner doing his thing, and I was there trying to book the gig," she told People. However, the pair would eventually click one evening after a performance. "We ended up talking for hours — it felt like a movie scene where the time passes in slow motion for two characters, while the world all around them continues moving at a usual pace," "The Talk" co-host recalled in her book, "Live Your Life" (via ET). They would go on to become a power couple of both the Great White Way and the small screen.
In 2020, their love story took a tragic turn when Cordero died from complications related to COVID-19. But before tens of thousands of devoted fans began to follow their devastating journey on Instagram, what was Amanda Kloots and Nick Cordero's marriage like? Keep reading for the sweet and heartbreaking details of their relationship.
How Amanda Kloots and Nick Cordero met
Amanda Kloots and Nick Cordero met in 2013 when they were both cast in the Broadway musical "Bullets Over Broadway," a self-reflexive jukebox musical about a Broadway play, per The New York Times. Kloots, a former Rockette, was a member of the ensemble, and Cordero played Cheech, a lead role. Cordero, who made his Broadway debut in "Rock of Ages" in 2009, even earned a Tony Award nomination for his performance as Cheech. "Bullets Over Broadway" was Kloots' fourth Broadway show, having made her debut in "Good Vibrations" in 2005 and subsequently appearing in "Young Frankenstein" in 2007 and "Follies" in 2011.
At the time she met Cordero, Kloots was going through a painful divorce from her first husband, and the actor quickly "became her confidant, then boyfriend" according to the aforementioned The New York Times interview with Kloots. "Bullets Over Broadway" ran for about five months in 2014, and all the while the connection between Kloots and Cordero continued to blossom.
Amanda Kloots and Nick Cordero worked hard during their relationship
After "Bullets Over Broadway" closed, Amanda Kloots and Nick Cordero's budding relationship remained strong as their careers grew. In 2015, Cordero appeared on an episode of "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit." Then, as his Playbill bio notes, the Canadian actor's next acting gig was Sara Bareilles' musical adaptation of "Waitress," in which he originated the role of Earl. The show, which received four Tony nominations, opened in April 2016 and Cordero remained until September of that year. Per The New York Times, Cordero's next major gig was Sonny in Chazz Palminteri's musical "A Bronx Tale."
As Cordero continued his busy acting career, Kloots made the decision to branch out from acting and began developing her own fitness brand, a jump rope and cardio dance class called AK! Rope. "Amanda's classes are a mix of dance and cross training with special attention on form and details to create a unique, fun workout that will have you drenched in sweat in minutes!" her website promises. "No matter your experience level, you'll be captivated by Amanda's radiant persona and empowering attitude."
It's safe to say that Kloots and Cordero were a hard-working couple.
Amanda Kloots and Nick Cordero tied the knot in a romantic ceremony
Amanda Kloots and Nick Cordero got married on September 3, 2017, at the Skylark lounge in Manhattan. Per Brides, the couple shared a romantic first look at New York's Plaza Hotel, then headed to the celebration. The downtown location was an ideal wedding venue for the actors, the former Rockette told Brides. "We both have worked on Broadway," she said, "so being just south of Times Square, 30 floors up, right in the middle of the skyscrapers, seemed so perfect!"
As true Broadway performers, Kloots and Cordero "performed a choreographed routine to 'It Had to Be You' by Harry Connick Jr.," according to Brides. A newlywed Kloots exclaimed, "We practiced for days leading up to our wedding so it would be perfect. Everyone went wild!" After watching this video of their amazing wedding dance, we can attest that the two actors definitely do not have two left feet (and Kloots' Rockette training definitely came in handy).
In 2021, Kloots and dance partner Alan Bersten did a foxtrot to "It Had to Be You" on an episode of "Dancing With the Stars" as a tribute to her late husband. "Last week I danced for myself," she posted on Instagram ahead of the episode. "This week, I'm dancing for you Nick."
Amanda Kloots and Nick Cordero share a son, Elvis
Amanda Kloots and Nick Cordero welcomed their son, Elvis Eduardo Cordero, on June 10, 2019, after Kloots labored for over two days. In an Instagram post celebrating Elvis' second birthday, Kloots wrote, "The minute I locked eyes with him I knew he was an old soul." The doting mom also commented on her husband's sweet bond with Elvis, writing, "Nick was immediately the cutest Dad and we both couldn't believe our little miracle had finally arrived."
Kloots shares lots of photos and videos of their adorable son on Instagram, documenting his milestones and even his sweet obsession with garbage trucks. "Scrubs" actor Zach Braff, a close friend of Kloots and Cordero, shared in a July 2020 episode of his podcast, "Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach + Donald," that the then one-year-old Elvis had "just started walking and he's just the cutest kid ever. He's so cute."
Nick Cordero's career change moved the Kloots-Cordero family to Los Angeles
After "A Bronx Tale" closed, Nick Cordero began to pivot to the music industry, while Amanda Kloots continued to grow her fitness brand and work as a fitness instructor, according to The New York Times. Kloots was resistant to her husband's change in career path at first, telling the Times, "'I was like, 'This is a waste of time, and we have no money.' He did not feel supported by me. I wasn't supportive.'"
The Tony-nominated actor wanted to move their family of three to Los Angeles, but Kloots wanted to stay in New York so they could stay close to her family and clientele. "We fought about it for a year and I finally came to a place of, 'This is marriage, you have to compromise,'" she said in The New York Times. So, she agreed, and the trio moved to California in the fall of 2019, temporarily staying in the home of pal Zach Braff, with whom they had appeared in "Bullets Over Broadway."
Nick Cordero contracted a severe case of COVID-19
In March 2020, Nick Cordero contracted COVID-19. Amanda Kloots drove her husband to an urgent care on March 30, 2020, after he experienced what he initially believed to be pneumonia symptoms, according to People. For the next few months, he suffered from a number of severe ailments, including losing a leg to sepsis, and was in a medically induced coma. In late June, the "Blue Bloods" actor appeared to start improving and had woken up from his coma, per People.
However, Cordero remained weak and never regained control of his body. He was in the Intensive Care Unit at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles until his passing on July 5, 2020, People reported. In a heartfelt Instagram tribute to her late husband, Kloots wrote, "My heart is broken as I cannot imagine our lives without him. Nick was such a bright light. He was everyone's friend, loved to listen, help and especially talk. He was an incredible actor and musician. He loved his family and loved being a father and husband. Elvis and I will miss him in everything we do, everyday."
Amanda Kloots kept family, friends, and fans updated on Nick Cordero's health
While Nick Cordero was in the hospital, Amanda Kloots kept a positive outlook and focused on her faith to guide them through. As she told the Los Angeles Times, "I've never been stronger in my faith than while Nick was in the hospital. I put every fiber of my being and trust in God."
The fitness instructor consistently kept her many Instagram followers apprised of Cordero's health status, "giving constant updates on her husband — from white blood cell counts to new stem cell treatment," People reported. She asked her followers to join her in singing her husband's song "Live Your Life" every day at a set time and did frequent Instagram Lives to share about Cordero's progress.
The fitness instructor began to amass a larger following of people who wanted to follow Cordero's health journey and found Kloots' resilience and positivity inspiring. In fact, when Cordero was first admitted to the hospital, his wife had 50,000 followers on Instagram. After she started posting about the actor's illness, her follower count increased tenfold, according to The New York Times.
Nick Cordero's heart-wrenching request to Zach Braff
Nick Cordero was good friends with "Scrubs" actor Zach Braff, with whom he co-starred in "Bullets Over Broadway," the musical that introduced Cordero to Amanda Kloots. In a July 2020 episode of his podcast "Fake Doctors, Real Friends with Zach + Donald," Braff said, "The last thing Nick texted me before he went unconscious was, I said, 'Is there anything I can do?' And he said, 'Please look out for Amanda and Elvis,'" the actor shared. "And I promised that I'm going to do that for the rest of my life. And I want to make him proud." And he certainly has.
The podcast host had already been looking out for the Cordero-Kloots family before the pandemic hit. When the family moved to Los Angeles, Braff generously invited them to stay in his guest house while they searched for their own house, even inviting the fitness instructor's brother and sister to stay and support Kloots and her son while Cordero was in the hospital, according to an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
How Amanda Kloots keeps Nick Cordero's memory alive
Though Nick Cordero has passed away, Amanda Kloots is keeping his memory — and that of their sweet relationship — alive. With the help of her sister Anna Kloots, a writer, the dancer penned the memoir "Live Your Life: My Story of Loving and Losing Nick Cordero," which was published on June 15, 2021. The book closely details Cordero's health journey, as well as Amanda's own experience throughout the tragedy. She said in The New York Times that while she is "proud" of what she and her sister wrote together, "But, you know, the story is so sad."
Kloots told ET that it "was always really hard" to realize that the memories she wrote about were all she and Cordero would ever create together. "Not even the pain of reliving it," she said, "but just knowing that it's over."
The "Dancing With the Stars" contestant's positivity didn't stop after her husband's passing. Along with her sister Anna, Amanda Kloots started a company, Hooray For, which sells t-shirts and other clothing items with positive messages on them, including "Hooray For Life," "Hooray For Sisters," and "Hooray For Equality."
Amanda Kloots paid a sweet tribute to Nick Cordero on the anniversary of his death
July 5, 2021, marked the one-year anniversary of Nick Cordero's death due to complications from COVID-19. Amanda Kloots, who was named a new co-host of CBS' "The Talk" in December 2020, shared a touching Instagram video featuring photos and videos of her late husband enjoying life. The post showed the actor singing, bouncing a newborn Elvis Cordero, striking silly poses, and more. In the caption, Kloots wrote, "There hasn't been a day this year where you weren't missed, thought about and talked about. Thank you for being our guardian angel, for sending me signs, for being my DJ in heaven....We only had a few short years together but they were filled with so much love, laughter, adventure, dreams, change and growth. It was my 'Nick era' and I'll have it forever."
The comments on the post reveal just how much love people have for Nick Cordero and Amanda Kloots. Nick's "Waitress" co-stars Drew Gehling and Keala Settle took to the comments section to express their affection and sorrow, as did thousands of others who followed along Nick's journey the previous year.
Amanda Kloots and Nick Cordero's net worth
Amanda Kloots and Nick Cordero found success in the performing arts and beyond, and their bank accounts seem to reflect that. According to GossipGist, Amanda Kloots' net worth — likely calculated from her jump rope fitness business and Hooray For! Clothing brand — is a solid $1 million, although we would guess it has gone up following the publication of her memoir, "Life Your Life."
Cordero's impressive body of work included Hollywood roles in addition to his Broadway career. According to his IMDb profile, he appeared on "Blue Bloods," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Mob Town," and "Queer as Folk." Though it is unclear exactly what Cordero's net worth was at the time of his death, it's speculated that he was worth between an impressive $1 million and $5 million. Together, the couple was able to purchase a home in the coveted Los Angeles neighborhood of Laurel Canyon, so while Kloots wrote on Instagram that they "had NOTHING in place and barely enough money to get a mortgage," it's safe to say that the family was fairly comfortable. In 2021, Dirt reported Kloots bought a $2 million place in the same neighborhood. However, it sounds like she won't be giving up the place she picked out with Cordero.
"Our house is amazing but very small," Kloot said on Instagram Stories after news of her real estate purchase surfaced (via Hello!). "It was never a home we bought as a 'forever home' but I will never sell it!"