Four years ago, American Idol Season 1 contestant Nikki McKibbin was caught in the clutches of a serious cocaine and alcohol addiction. She ended up appearing on VH-1’s Celebrity Rehab and Sober House where she shared the story of a dysfunctional parent relationship in which she would do lines with her mom. She was my favorite washed-up celeb and the only one that I thought would have a chance of making it.
I don’t know if she’s sober today; I don’t know if any addict stays sober when they are paid to go through televised rehab. Maybe she just switched her drug of choice from Jack Daniels to Fritos. What I do know is this: She’s got a killer voice and I hope we hear from her again.
Obviously, McKibbin’s appearance last night at the AI finale is a drastic change from a few years ago. The truth of the matter is this: If you can sing, if you have talent, people don’t care if you look slightly like a fetish-wear model shop at Lane Bryant. Jessica Simpson got vilified in the media when she ballooned to a size eight because she has the talent of a potato. People aren’t that harsh to Kelly Clarkson because she’s got pipes.
Conclusion: Nikki, don’t let anything hold you back. Get in the studio, pronto!
Ummm, I like her better on coke…what’s her mom up to these days?
Umm,Rob. Her mother is dead!! This was the reason for most of her addiction and depression. She just has had a horrible time dealing with it. I hope she stays clean and sober and gets her career back on track. She has real talent.
Her mother died of an overdose of prescription medication. She had also been doing lines of cocaine with her Nikki that evening prior to her demise.
It’s horrible to think what Nikki went through the morning after.
It appears she started making changes to her life after life taught her a valuable lesson.
It’s another sad story.
oh my… that is very scary.
thanks for the inspiration to still eat healthy AFTER losing the
extra pounds Wendie!
Uh,Rob-her mother is dead! That was the cause of so much of her addiction and depression. I really like her and hope she continues her sobriety and gets back on track with her music.
That was NOT the cause of her addiction. She was snorting cocaine long before her mother passed. Her ex, Billy Blair was a major coke head. We all have our demons. ALL OF US.
People do grow up and move on with their lives. And who cares if she gained weight. Better she gain weight than destroy her kids lives by continuous drug use. Go Nikki!
So she’s chubby. Whatever, she still looks good.
On which planet specifically?
Saturn. horrible hair
i’m fairly certain the weight gain has to do with her stopping drugs.
My bad, my bad…it was a joke. I did not know the whole back story. Good luck to her and her recovery…
I totally saw that new pic of her, and searched for old ones of her today. Yes my life is that sad lol; but wow.. The difference is, quite a shock.
Get healthy girl!
What’s weird is, that is her, healthier. The skinny version was the coked-out one.
do you really think being morbidly obese is healthier?
YES!!!!
Being FAT is healthier!!
I love her too! I wish all the best for her, she has had a rough go of things so far. I hope that she will be able to stay sober and have a great career and be able to enjoy time with her family for many years to come.
From jack daniels to jack in the box
lol!!!! ( hey auto submit comment thingy: my comment might b short, but its still longer than ur dick!!!!burn!!)
She has changed a lot.. Can’t just believe.. see her video in this bikini- http://bit.ly/OxdIK
She looks piping hot!!
so what if she’s gained weight??? at least she doesn’t look like a boy anymore.
Thank you!
I think she actually looks better bigger.
I mean, she could stand to lose some weight, but she looks really trashy in the first picture.
I can’t believe anyone thinks she looks better now. she is all roly poly. I’m glad she is off drugs, but I’m not going to pretend that she looks better… OR healthier, this fat
I read on some site that she almost has a year sober / clean. Sometimes food is substituted for drugs and alcohol. Once she gets her year, she said she will tackle the weight. I smoked pot for 18 years and drank alcoholically for 14. When I stopped I gained 40 pounds. Since then I’ve lost and gained over the 20+ years I’ve been clean and sober. Food is harder to kick since you have to eat. If she has stayed sober for a year I think she deserves to be treated with respect. The success rate is low especially for celebrities.
good for you pal
Congrats on staying sober! And I’m so happy that Nicki has stayed sober this long. I hope she continues. U are absolutely right. Addiction is hard enough on “regular” folks but, for a celebrity it’s nearly impossible to kick. She deserves respect for accomplishing what she has. I don’t care what she looks like. She IS healthier off drugs. I hope she can now keep her life on track and get her career back off the groung. She is amazingly talented. She was one of my faves of Season 1. Good luck Nicki!
Yes, way to go on staying sober. I heard that people who are used to drinking alcohol crave sugar, because the sugar fills the need in their bodies that alcohol once filled. If true, it makes sense that people who quit drinking might have a hard time with their weight. Anyway I agree, she deserves respect and support–overcoming any addiction is a tough, tough thing.
Pretty sure what she said on Rehab was that her mom died of an overdose after they were doing coke together. Quite sad and she was clearly feeling a lot of guilt over it.
Someone needs to tell her the TRUTH which is, its great that you’re not on drugs anymore, but you should definitely be on a treadmill. Not having control of your weight will eventually kill her too.
Wow.
Don’t know who she is but she looks great on drugs.
Off them, she looks like Divine.
I watched some episodes of that celeb screwhab show with Dr Drew. Nikki seemed genuinely nice, and she paved the way for the “different” female contestant on AI. She got chubsy ubsy. BUT-when you get large, you have to take that into account when you are dressing. Bad wardrobe choices.. She doesn’t have to dress like an 80s whore. She doesn’t have to dress like an old lady either-just find flattering clothing! Show off your assets and don’t accentuate your figure flaws!
I am sure all of you that made snide remarks are perfect and that’s why you can sit in judgement..hum… I noted none of you nasty people put in a real pitcure- is it true “ugly only see’s ugly?” I admire her for trying to make something better of herself and her struggle happens to be public. Show compassion and thats what you get back. Show bad ugly and thats what YOU will get back. I wish those of you that are troubled peace and compassion.
We say in the rooms that you can tell someone is recovering by how much weight they have gained :)
Wendie, I think you are a smart mouth and you encourage a lot of the readers to be smart mouths too. I don’t particularly care for it. I hope Beet sees soon that you are dragging this blog down. I’m not sure why we think that it is acceptable to make fun of people for issues that they obviously struggle with. It is easy for us to sit back and judge something that we don’t have to deal with ourselves.
I think most of us “smart mouths” don’t need encouragement. That’s part of being a smart mouth.
I was all set to be offended when I saw the pics, but seriously, where in that article was Wendie making fun of her?
In fact, she complimented her singing and seemed to be asking to hear more of it.
Nine times out of ten, this weight gain will happen to people trying to get off coke. You not only gain the weight back you once had, you gain maybe 15-20 on top of that. She may never get back to the weight she was at before. I happen to think she looks better with a little chub!
Yep, it’s usually due to all the muscle mass you lose due to the calorie deficiency, decreased muscle means decreased Metabloism, your body goes into survival mode at low calorie diets and CLING to fat and burn muscle for fuel. That’s why you see fat people that REALLY don’t eat much…their bodies are in Survival mode and Metabolism is extremely low..so when they eat, the body converts food into fat.
This is why starvation diets don’t work..you lose valuable muscle mass, which means you burn MUCH less calories than usual…sure you see a small weight loss(usually water and muscle) at first, but they neevr work long term and do more damage and makes it twice as hard as if you were eating MORE and clean to begin with…
geez, i wouldn’t have gone to the AI finals looking like that!
lol wendie. just say what you really wanted to say…
DAMNNNN BTCH GOT FATTTT!
you know what–if some young woman was able to kick an addiction to jack daniels and cocaine and enjoy some freakin frijtos hell yes to her. and you say you have a feminist “sister” blog. shame on you!!!
Saw Nikki last night in Dallas while she watched her son race BMX for the first time and she looked happy and was very friendly! She’s touring and still singing. What does a great voice have anything to do with her weight gain? There are plenty of over weight entertainers and I’d happily listen to them…talent is talent! Nikki has a beautiful voice, no denying that!