Nikki Boyer and Molly Kochan ; Nikki Boyer attends FX’s “Dying For Sex” premiere at the SVA theatre in New York City on April 2, 2025. Photo:
Nikki Boyer/ Instagram ; CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty
Award-winning podcast host Nikki Boyer made ‘Dying for Sex’ to honor her best friend Molly Kochan’s legacy
Dying for Sex tells the empowering and heartbreaking story of a woman who leaves her marriage and embarks on a sexual awakening after receiving a terminal cancer diagnosis.
The series is based on the true story that longtime friends Molly Kochan and Nikki Boyer told in their award-winning 2020 podcast.
A few years after Kochan was diagnosed with stage IV breast cancer, she and Boyer decided to chronicle her dating escapades in a vulnerable, dark-humor podcast titled Dying for Sex. Though she recorded all six episodes with Boyer, Kochan died in 2019 while it was still being produced.
“Molly died in the prime of her life, and there was nothing easy about her painful cancer journey,” Boyer wrote in a 2023 essay for Mamamia. “What she showed me was, if you are fortunate enough to navigate your own passing, gracefully… then you are one of the lucky ones. It’s a privilege.”
Kochan’s journey and friendship with Boyer are now being explored on the small screen in the FX adaptation of their podcast, which premiered on April 4.
So, where is Nikki Boyer now, five years after her viral podcast? Here’s everything to know about Nikki Boyer’s life today and how she continues to honor Molly Kochan’s legacy.
Who is Nikki Boyer?
Nikki Boyer attends the 35th Annual GLAAD Media Awards on May 11, 2024 in New York City.
Jamie McCarthy/Getty
Nikki Boyer is a TV personality and three-time Emmy-winning producer best known for the Wondery podcast Dying for Sex.
The series, which launched in 2020, chronicled her best friend Molly Kochan’s sexual awakening after she received a terminal cancer diagnosis. It went on to win the 2021 Ambie Award for podcast of the year and was adapted into a limited series in April 2025 starring Michelle Williams as Kochan.
Jenny Slate plays Boyer in the series, which also stars Sissy Spacek, Rob Delaney, Esco Jouley, David Rasche and Jay Duplass. Boyer also makes a cameo in the series as Cousin Shelia.
What did Nikki Boyer do in her career after Dying for Sex?
Jenny Slate, Nikki Boyer and Michelle Williams attend FX’s “Dying For Sex” Premiere After Party on April 02, 2025 in New York City.
Dia Dipasupil/Getty
Boyer has made her career as a host, producer, actress and podcaster. In addition to Dying for Sex, she also hosted the podcast The Daily Smile, which launched in 2020 as an antidote to the 24-hour news cycle, and Call Me Curious. As an actress, she’s appeared in Gilmore Girls, Malcolm in the Middle and 90210.
In 2023, Boyer founded an audio-first content company called Dying for Media that she described to The Wrap as “a safe space for no-fluff content around topics that are historically taboo and skewed in the media.”
Boyer said in a statement, “Dying for Media was formed in honor of my friend Molly Kochan, whose bravery in telling the story of the last days of her life in a brutally honest and hilarious way impacted millions of listeners, far more than either of us ever dreamed.”
Is Dying for Sex a true story?
Nikki Boyer and Molly Kochan ; Michelle Williams as Molly Kochan and Jenny Slate as Nikki Boyer in FX’s ‘Dying For Sex’.
Nikki Boyer/ Instagram ; FX
Yes, Dying for Sex is based on the real-life story of Kochan, who was first diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011, per The Independent. Through a combination of chemotherapy, a bilateral mastectomy, radiation therapy and a breast reconstruction, she recovered from the disease — but was diagnosed again in 2015.
Only this time, it was stage IV breast cancer and the prognosis was likely terminal. At the time, Kochan was put on a new medication that increased her libido.
On the Dying for Sex podcast, Kochan opened up about her mindset after the diagnosis and explained that she and her husband of around 15 years had long experienced “difficulties” with intimacy. She then left him and began exploring her sexuality as a way to “reclaim her body.”
Boyer told The New York Post in 2020 that she and Kochan came up with the idea for the podcast over lunch one day in 2018. They met at noon, and her friend had already gone on two dates that morning.
“I said, ‘There’s a story in here,’ ” the award-winning producer recalled. “Sex and illness are rarely discussed together … It’s not just about the sex. It’s about healing old wounds and coming to terms with what is happening to her. Sex, for her, was not the endgame.”
When did Molly Kochan die?
Nikki Boyer and Molly Kochan.
Nikki Boyer/ Instagram
Kochan died in March 2019 at the age of 45.
According to her author bio, she was hospitalized while producing the Dying for Sex podcast for a routine surgery. Sadly, she was “confined to a bed for months where she would eventually take her last breath” on March 8, 2019.
While in the hospital, Kochan wrote her memoir, Screw Cancer: Becoming Whole, which was published in 2020.
Where is Nikki Boyer now?
Nikki Boyer smiles for a photo in October 2024.
Nikki Boyer/ Instagram
In 2025, Boyer served as the executive producer on the miniseries Dying for Sex, which is based on the podcast she hosted with Kochan. Boyer shared a throwback selfie of them together in February 2025 alongside a caption that revealed how she honored her friend’s spirit while making the show.
“I woke up thinking of you this morning,” she wrote in the caption addressed to her late best friend. “Your bravery and authenticity is not lost on me during this wild ride. It all comes back to you. I’m holding you close during each moment and remembering how this all started. Me. You. ♥️.”
Who is Nikki Boyer’s husband?
Nikki Boyer and husband Tommy Fields pose for a photo together in January 2025.
Nikki Boyer/ Instagram
Boyer married film composer, singer and music producer Tommy Fields in 2022 after the pair had dated for over a decade.
According to his professional bio, he’s scored TV movies like A Biltmore Christmas, starring Lacey Chabert, and The Christmas Quest.
In a January 2025 Instagram post wishing him a happy birthday, Boyer wrote that her husband is her “favorite human to ever exist.”
