Alexa Nikolas (born April 4, 1992 ) is an American YouTuber and former actress. Nikolas began acting as a child and is best known for her role as Nicole Bristow on the Nickelodeon television series Zoey 101. She also appeared on various other television series, including That's Life, Hidden Hills, Revelations, and The Walking Dead. Since her retirement from acting, she has founded Eat Predators, a movement that seeks to end predatory behavior in the entertainment industry.

Career

In 2004, at age 12, Nikolas was cast as Nicole Bristow on Zoey 101, alongside Jamie Lynn Spears. In 2006, following the conclusion of the second season, Nikolas exited the series, following numerous fights and incidents with Spears, who claimed she was making up lies about her and suspected she was trying to take over her role on the series. In August 2005, it was reported that Britney Spears confronted Nikolas about the feud. She later alleged Nickelodeon failed to protect her from abuse, saying she "did not feel safe" around the show's creator, Dan Schneider. In addition, Nikolas appeared on Hidden Hills regularly and also on the 2005 series Revelations. Following her departure from Zoey 101, Nikolas guest starred on various other television series, most notably The Suite Life of Zack & Cody, Judging Amy, ER, Without a Trace, Criminal Minds, and Heroes with actress Laura Marano who played young Alice Shaw the sister of Nikolas' character, Angela. In 2011, she appeared in the film Red State as Jesse, and that same year, she appeared on Family Guy as additional voices. Nikolas appeared in three episodes of the television series The Walking Dead – her character, Haley, was introduced in November 2012, before being killed off in February 2013. In 2012, Nikolas starred as Willow in the comedy-horror film Detention of the Dead.

Personal life

Nikolas was born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1992. She is of Greek descent. Nikolas moved to Los Angeles when she was 6 years old to pursue an acting career. She was married to Canadian electronic musician Mike Milosh from 2012 to 2016. Nikolas has accused Milosh of grooming her for a sexual relationship when she was 16 and he was 33, though states that they did not engage in sex until she turned 18. In August 2021, Nikolas sued Milosh on grounds of sexual battery, gender violence, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and a violation of California’s Tom Bane Civil Rights Act. Milosh denied Nikolas’s claims and counter-sued, accusing Nikolas of fabricating abuse claims against him after he stopped paying her spousal support. Nikolas dropped the lawsuit in May 2022. Milosh's lawsuit was stricken in February 2023. Nikolas has been married to Michael Gray since 2021. The couple have two children.

Activism

In 2022, Nikolas and her organization Eat Predators organized a protest against unsafe working conditions for children, and child predators being protected at Nickelodeon. Nikolas discusses her strategy as inviting pushback and criticism, saying, "If they want to silence me, it's the whole so-called Streisand Effect, where their usual relentless tactics to silence a survivor just makes it more public.” On July 8, 2023, Nikolas accused actor Jonah Hill of forcibly kissing her at a party at actor Justin Long's house in 2008, when she was 16 and Hill was 24. Speaking through an attorney, Hill denied her accusations, while Long stated he did not know about the incident. In February 2024, it was announced that Nikolas would appear in the Discovery documentary Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV.

Filmography

Awards and nominations