Amanda Kloots: 5 Things To Know About Nick Cordero’s Widow Who Is Now Co-Host Of ’The Talk’

Amanda Kloots, who tragically lost her husband, Nick Cordero, to COVID-19 in July, will be happily joining ‘The Talk’ as one of the show’s two new co-hosts in Jan.

Amanda Kloots, 38, who captured many social media users’ hearts when sharing her experience with her late husband Nick Cordero‘s battle with COVID-19 throughout the first part of 2020, has been named a new permanent co-host of The Talk. The former Rockette will be joining other hosts Sharon Osbourne, Sheryl Underwood, and Carrie Ann Inaba as well as fellow new host Elaine Welteroth on Jan. 4. She and Elaine are joining the show after former host Marie Osmond left the show last season and host Eve announced she’d be departing the show after this season.

“Amanda and Elaine are accomplished and relatable women, whose talents and personality stood out during their multiple guest appearances this fall. They bring a fresh new dimension to the show and we’re very excited to have them join the panel,” Kelly Kahl, President of CBS Entertainment, said in a statement. “These five hosts together present a compelling mix of personalities and opinions that will continue to elevate the series and lead The Talk well into the future.”

Shortly after the announcement about her addition to the show made its way across media platforms, Amanda took to Instagram to share her own joy over the life-changing news. “IT’S OFFICIAL! Starting January 2021 I will be joining @thetalkcbs 😭❤️🎉 HOORAY FOR THE TALK!” she wrote in the post, which included several photos of herself during her recent guest host appearances on the show. “I am thrilled and honored to join this incredible cast and crew. From the very first time I guest co-hosted on The Talk I knew I was amongst a very special group of people.”

“I look forward to starting on the new year with honest and thought provoking discussions, mixed with plenty of fun and laughter!” she added. “To end this year with this news, this special gift is unbelievable. My angel in heaven is certainly looking out for us. “Thank you for welcoming me with open arms @sharonosbourne @sherylunderwood @carrieanninaba and congrats also to the amazing @elainewelteroth 🎉”

Here are five things you should know about Amanda and her inspirational story.

1. Amanda and Nick share a son, Elvis. The couple, who married in 2017, welcomed their first child in the summer of 2019, and he turned 1 on June 10, 2020. In an Instagram post celebrating Elvis being 10-months-old, Amanda revealed that “he was conceived in New Orleans, born in NYC and raised in Laurel Canyon.” She added that their son has “music in his bones.”

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October is breast cancer awareness month, an annual campaign to increase awareness of the disease. I personally have had family and friends diagnosed with breast cancer and find that it is so important to educate and donate to this cause. ⠀ Every HOORAY FOR BOOBIES shirt that is bought, 50% of the proceeds will go to the Dr. Susan Love foundation for breast cancer research, a foundation that challenges the status quo to end breast cancer. ⠀ A woman going through this disease is a warrior. We are here to do what we can to support and love you! ⠀ On a whole different note boobies have another meaning for me because I am still breastfeeding Elvis at almost 16 months. I never thought I’d make it this long because I had a very hard time at first with blocked ducts and mastitis. I finally found my groove at three months and it’s been smooth sailing ever since. Breastfeeding is a full time job!! The amount of hours a mom breast feeds is equal to a paid full time job. It is not easy and everyone has to find their own way. I’m happy that I did, that I still am. To all my mamas out there that tried, are trying, doing it or still doing it- HOORAY!

A post shared by AK! ⭐️ (@amandakloots) on Oct 1, 2020 at 8:18am PDT

2. She took a stand against President Donald Trump telling the public to not “be afraid” of COVID-19. “I cried next to my husband for 95 days watching what COVID did to the person I love,” she wrote on Oct. 6, a day after President Donald Trump tweeted that people shouldn’t “be afraid of COVID” and how they shouldn’t “let it dominate your life.” Three months after Amanda watched Nick, who is also the father of their one-year-old son Elvis, die at the age of 41 from extreme complications due to coronavirus, she couldn’t hold back her rage. “It IS something to be afraid of. After you see the person you love the most die from this disease, you would never say what this tweet says.”

“There is no empathy [for] all the lives lost. He is bragging instead. It is sad. It is hurtful. It is disgraceful,” she continued. At the time of Amanda’s reply, over 208,000 Americans had died due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The disease also seemed to run rampant through Trump’s White House. Everyone from First Lady Melania Trump to White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany to Kellyanne Conway tested positive for COVID.

As Amanda noted, this disease is not one to be taken lightly. Her husband checked into the hospital on March 30, and the next day, he was on a ventilator and put in a medically induced coma. Several complications – “mini-strokes, infections, blood clots – resulted in Nick having a leg amputated before he ultimately lost his life.

“Nick passed away three months ago,” Amanda wrote in an Oct. 5 Instagram, “but COVID took my husband April 1, which is [six]  months ago. I realized that the other day, Elvis and I lost him [six] months ago. Once he went on the ventilator, he never came back. It’s weird to think we’ve been on our own for that long already. Please wear a mask. Please continue to take this seriously.”

3. She is a celebrity fitness trainer, specializing in jump rope and dance. “Amanda’s classes are a mix of dance and cross-training with special attention on form and details to create a unique, fun workout that will have you drenched in sweat in minutes!” her official website explains about her fitness method, which is centered around positivity. Amanda also has a business where she sells workout mats and jump ropes and partners with various lifestyle and fitness brands.

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Nick learned how to jump rope to win me back so I got up this morning, grabbed my AK! Rope and jumped to win him back! Jumping to his original song titled, Live Your Life! #wakeupnick

A post shared by AK! ⭐️ (@amandakloots) on Apr 14, 2020 at 6:43am PDT

(Video credit: Amanda Kloots/Instagram) 

4. Amanda is a former Radio City Rockette and Broadway dancer.  The Ohio native began her career as a professional dancer. She danced for 16 years before she transitioned into fitness. Amanda has danced on Broadway’s Good Vibrations and toured with Monty Python’s Spamalot and many more.  

5. She’s had to overcome a lot in her life. “ I was 31 when I was cast in Bullets Over Broadway, a show that received a lot of promotion,” she wrote in Time in 2018. “This was my fourth Broadway musical, so getting a closing notice was nothing new to me. But to hear, “the show is closing,” after only three months, stung. At the same time, I found my marriage unexpectedly and abruptly ending after seven years. Just six months before it seemed like everything was about to fall into place, now everything was falling apart.” In this moment, Amanda reinvented herself as a fitness instructor and found a new calling.

“Life can definitely throw you some ups and downs,” she wrote in 2018, “but one thing I’ve learned is how strong you become from the lowest times in your life. I found love again, have my own business, and have turned into a woman I wouldn’t have recognized five years ago. Through it all, I’ve learned to believe in yourself when things seem unbelievable — that’s when you grow the most.”