Nikki DeLoach Teases New ‘Curious Caterer’ Movie Will ‘Lean Into the Romance’ Between Goldy & Tom
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The Curious Caterer franchise continues to expand with Curious Caterer: Foiled Plans. The Hallmark Mystery movie is switching things up in a major way with Foiled Plans, and there’s a serious Clue vibe as Goldy (Nikki DeLoach) takes a catering job at the mysterious Hyde Castle. Goldy is tasked with cooking authentic medieval fare, but she finds herself trapped inside the castle with Tom (Andrew Walker) and other loved ones after a shocking murder.
Below, DeLoach discusses the fourth Curious Caterer movie, how there will be major developments for Goldy and Tom’s relationship, and what’s next for her at Hallmark.
How does this latest mystery challenge Goldy in a way she hasn’t been before?
Nikki DeLoach: Well, I would just say that this latest movie is so different from all the other Curious Caterers that we’ve done before. For number four, we wanted to take them out of their world. Take them out of the police station and Goldy’s house and everything and put them in a fun environment. We really wanted to do something kind of like Clue where everybody gets locked in a building and there are so many red herrings. Goldy and Tom, alongside Mason and Marla, have to figure out who the murderer is in order for everybody to get out of this castle alive. So we came up with the idea of doing a medieval ball. You’re kind of transported into a different world for Curious Caterer 4. From the moment you entered the castle, there’s the costumes and then the castle itself, which was an actual real castle. I don’t know if you know it was the one that they used in X-Men when the kids we’re in school. It’s the same castle that they used. What makes this specifically hard for Goldy is she’s trapped in this building with her daughter. It’s not just that there’s a murderer on the loose. She is in this building with her daughter and everyone she loves most. So it’s Olive, it’s Tom, it’s her best friend Marla, it’s also her ex-husband. Everyone that she loves the most is in this building, so that means that everyone’s lives are being threatened essentially. That’s why the stakes for this one are really heightened.
What does the dynamic look like for Goldy and Tom in this movie?
Because of the backdrop of this movie, we really wanted to lean into the romance across the board. On the last movie, I came in and told our producers and our executives, ‘We really have to move this romance forward, or we’re going to hear it from the fans.’ And we certainly did by the end of [Curious Caterer] 3. They wanted their romance. They wanted Goldy and Tom to get together sooner. So for this one, we were really focused on giving the audience what they asked for. Goldy and Tom are tossed into this high-stakes situation with a murderer on the loose, but there’s a very romantic environment. They’re dressed in costume. The castle is gorgeous. There’s an air in the room of romance and anything can happen. We wanted that to be infused into all the characters, so all of them find romance, specifically in this movie. With Goldy and Tom, we’re really happy with the way this one turned out because we really believe that we’re giving the audience what they asked for.
This is your seventh time working with Andrew. What has it been like building a friendship and chemistry over several films?
It’s not a secret that we love working together. It’s so easy with us. We’re so similar in our real life in terms of little things, right? We love to work out, we love to eat healthy, we try to be super mindful just in our personal lives. But then in our professional lives, there’s a way that we like to run a set. We want everyone to feel like their voice matters. There’s no such thing as a hierarchy on one of our movies. The best idea wins, no matter who it comes from. There’s no ego involved. It’s such a beautiful collaborative experience with everyone. We have such great actors. We have Riley Davis, Jaycie Dotin, and Lochlyn Monroe. Lochlyn will often come up to you and whisper a little idea in your ear of something fun you could do, and you listen because he is a legend and his ideas are great. It’s just a real collaborative energy to a set that Andrew and I where number one and number two. It’s really important to us for every single crew member, every single person on that set, to feel appreciated, to feel valued, and to also have fun while making these. These movies are not easy to make. You make a movie in 15 days. For this specific Curious Caterer, we did it in 14 days. We had the biggest cast ensemble cast we’ve ever had. It was a heavy lift this specific movie. We all had to come together and work together and just get it done. For us, it just is such a joy to be on set together. It’s such a joy to specifically be able to make this Curious Caterer movie wheel. We’re so excited that the audience keeps showing up to watch it because without them and without them tuning in, it doesn’t get to exist. We make these movies for the audience. So when they love it and when they get really excited about it, it just means the world.
Allister Foster / Hallmark
Do you have plans to make another Curious Caterer movie?
Listen, I’m down to make 27 of these. That is the hope. Yeah, we actually are going to be making another one this year, which will be really, really, really fun.
There needs to be a Hannah Swensen and Curious Caterer crossover at some point.
Actually, I would love to do that with her. I love Ali [Sweeney]. She’s so smart. She’s wonderful. That’s a no-brainer. That would be amazing.
It’s the 15th year of Countdown to Christmas. Will you be in another Christmas movie this year?
I mean, I hope so. I haven’t done my Christmas movie yet. I hope that the offer for one will come in really pretty soon. It’s something that I look forward to doing every single year is a Christmas movie. I mean, come on, they make people so happy. Honestly, they truly are a joy to do.
Do you have any fond memories of your first Christmas movie for Hallmark?
Oh, I do. It was called Christmas Land. Yeah. It was with Luke Macfarlane, who is just the yummiest and such a good actor. I love working with him so much. It was like magic in a bottle. It was the last Christmas movie of the year to air. It. It did really well. We did it in Utah. I loved the production company. I got to work with specifically a producer named Brian Nolan. He ended up becoming a good friend. He was such a joy to work with. The thing about Brian that was so amazing, and I think this is true for every movie, the energy of the top trickles down to everyone. He loves to have an excited, fun, happy set. So what I remember is laughing a lot on that movie. I remember being so grateful that I get to work with Luke, who is such a great actor. It was just a lot of joy on that one. Obviously, you never forget your first. Eight years later, I’m so grateful that I still get to make these movies.
You’ve done so many movies for Hallmark. You’re close to 20 films!
It really is all the fans. We make these movies for them. Without them, they don’t exist. To be perfectly honest, one of my favorite things that I get to do every year is the Christmas conventions that we do because we get to be in a community with the people who watch our movies and hear the stories of why they matter. I’ve been lucky enough to do some of the more emotional movies with The Gift of Peace, Two Turtle Doves, and then obviously Five More Minutes, which was about grief as well as The Gift of Peace. I was so honored to hear people sharing about those that they have lost. I lost my dad in 2021, so it meant a lot for me to be able to share my grief with our audience and for them to have the opportunity to share their grief with me. The power of story and its ability to connect to someone at home and make them feel like they’re not alone or to inspire them or just to make them feel like in the end, everything is going to be okay, it is such a gift to be able to do that. I feel like that is something that I have been really privileged to be able to do at Hallmark, telling stories that really connect to people, especially the stories about grief that help people get through the holidays, which are often the hardest times after you lose someone.
You’ve been developing, writing, and producing as well. Is any of that on the horizon this year?
Oh, yes, yes, yes, yes. Actually, my writing partner and I have a mystery wheel called True Justice. The first movie in that wheel aired in January of this year, and it did really well. We’re super excited to be able to continue with that one. It’s about a team of law school students who come together to exonerate people who have been falsely convicted of crimes. It’s so important to tell these stories, and especially to tell stories of redemption. That has been so fun to develop and to write. I also produced Family History Mysteries, which is another mystery wheel on Hallmark Mystery. Janel Parrish is the lead of it. It’s about sometimes reuniting families, bringing people back to those that they lost along the way, and figuring out the mysteries using genealogy. I can’t wait to bring more of those and develop more of those movies. Right now, my writing partner and I are writing a Christmas movie that will be for 2025. So lots of writing, lots of producing that I’m getting to do, and I love all of it. It’s all just storytelling, which is what I love to do the most. It’s so fun.
Curious Caterer: Foiled Plans, April 26, 9/8c, Hallmark Mystery
