She can hear the bells!
Nikki Blonsky, the 35-year-old Golden Globe- and SAG Award-nominated actor best known for playing the lead role of Tracy Turnblad in the 2007 movie musical Hairspray, has revealed exclusively to Out that she and her partner Hailey Jo Jenson have officially gotten married!
The two wives announced they were engaged in September of 2022 after first going public as a couple in June of that year. Now they reveal that they eloped October 21, 2023.
Blonsky and Jenson spoke exclusively to Out about their relationship, marriage, and why they chose this moment in time to share the news of their nuptials with the public.
The two wives couldn't be happier to talk about their marriage for the first time, and as they the details of their relationship, they can't help but smile and finish each other's sentences.
Jenson, who uses they/them pronouns, says that they were a fan of Blonsky's before they were her wife, and that their relationship is a "dream come truel."
"I saw Nikki in 2007, and I had a crush on her ever since," they say. "And I saw that she was live on TikTok one day, and she was randomly adding people into her TikTok LIVE. And she randomly chose me, and I talked to her. And after the call, the TikTok LIVE, I slid into her DMs, as well as I ordered a Cameo from her so she would see my name. And so it started from there."
Blonsky remembers that first online interaction. "I remember the first time when we were doing that TikTok LIVE, and it clicked over to Hailey's face. And there was something about them and their presence and just their smile. It was electric," she recalls. "And I was like, 'Who is this person?' I remember my heart literally just stopping beating and breathing."
When the two finally met in person, both of them say they immediately knew that this was their forever person.
"I remember when Hailey came to see me in California, and they got to the top of my staircase, and they were carrying their luggage and they turned around and I just saw their face right in front of me for the first time, and I said, 'This is the person I'm going to marry for sure,'" Blonsky says. "I had never wanted to marry before. That wasn't a thing for me. I was very content with my career [and like], 'If love's going to come my way, whatever will be, will be.' And thank goodness it was meant to be."
"Honestly, yeah. The moment I saw her in person, I got out of the Uber, called her and told her, 'I'm here. I don't know where you are,' and she came out of her building and I looked up the stairs and I saw her, and she was just smiling," Jenson remembers. "And it was like this moment where I just was looking at something and nothing else existed. It was just like, 'Oh my God.' It was the wildest feeling, and it felt like that being with her ever since."
In classic queer style, the two proposed to each other on the same day. Blonsky says that on a trip to New York, she told her parents she was planning on marrying Jenson and got an engagement ring. Then, she asked for Jenson's parents' blessing and was given that.
"I was going to try and do some big elaborate proposal, but that's not really us, and I just wanted it to be genuine," Blonsky says. "And so we were just hanging out watching TV in bed one night, and the ring was burning a hole in my pocket. My pants were on fire."
"We were laying in bed crying with each other, right before just talking about how much we loved each other," Jenson adds. "We are just emotional saps. And it was just this overwhelming feeling of love. And I couldn't have picked a better time because it was like, holy shit, this is exactly the perfect moment."
"So I pull out a ring and then Hailey pulls out a ring, and then we all started screaming," Blonsky smiles.
After being engaged for more than a year, they decided to elope in a private ceremony. "It was super special," Blonsky says of the intimate ceremony. "That was the main thing, all I knew was that I wanted to marry Hailey. As long as Hailey showed up, we were good to go. Hailey and the person who was going to marry us."
To commemorate the ceremony, they got matching ring tattoos.
Blonsky and Jenson say that they wanted to let the news out on their own terms, and feel like now is the right time to share it, and that they "couldn't keep the secret any longer."
"My brother got married in November, and it is just so nice to see people being able to refer to their spouse. And I want to be able to refer to my wife. So yeah, it now felt like the right time," Blonsky says. "And with Pride Month coming up, I always want to encourage people to live their truth and live their best life, and everybody deserves love."
Blonsky has been sending that message since she was starring in Hairspray. In that movie, her character finds love and community despite being told the world isn't made for a girl like her. It's something she can relate to in real life.
"Tracy was such a gift, and going on her love journey was so fun, but it wasn't real for me at the end of the day," she says. "And I kept working and making movies and playing characters who had boyfriends. And I had dated, but I never found myself feeling that love that my characters felt. And then it's because I realized that I was playing straight women, and I wasn't allowing myself to explore something that had been trying to get out for so many years."
"Once I did, and then of course once I met Hailey, I saw that, wow, you can have a woman loving woman relationship, and it can be the greatest thing in the world," she continues. "You don't need a Link Larkin. You know what I mean? Tracy did, but I don't. I have Hailey Jenson and that's all I need ever."
"And I think the fact that Tracy had love was amazing," she notes. "But we're in 2024, and I just want to let everybody know that if you open your heart enough and you let yourself be your true self, you can find love. It's out there."
The couple says that getting to do a marriage announcement photoshoot, where Blonksy was dressed by Torrid, was a truly special moment for them.
"We loved the photographer [Christina Mellor], because they persuaded us almost to just have a very special moment between me and Nikki," Jenson says. "Just feel our love, forget that there's a camera. They really didn't ask us to look at the camera very much. They just were a bystander. And so it just felt very special. And getting to be in this gorgeous area in Utah, it felt so romantic."
"Yeah. It felt super romantic," Blonsky adds. "And I think her being a queer photographer, I think she was really able to encapsulate queer love and how beautiful and electric it can be."
Now, the two are happily living together and have an adorable dog named Charlie. They say they plan on going to a drag brunch for Pride and continuing to enjoy each other's company.
"Just being together every day [is my favorite part of being married]," Blosnky says. "Talking about everything, but also just being there for each other, and getting to experience things together. And I learned so much from Hailey, because I come from the entertainment world, and Hailey comes from aerospace. So they're the super smart one. And it's just so nice to just talk to somebody who's not in my game, but who supports me and vice versa."
"It's truly, we married our best friends," she continues. "And I think that's my favorite part of being married, is that I get to spend every day with my best friend."
Image Credits
Photographer: Christina Mellor for Out Magazine (@christinascaptures)
Art direction: Nikki Aye (@photonicole)
