Nicole Nichols is a fictional character played by Natasha Lyonne on the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black.

Her upbringing was privileged but dysfunctional; her father was absent for much of her childhood, her mother is cold and distant, and she alludes to having been "interfered with" by her uncle Pete.

[8] In the final episode of the season, Nichols is seen to be seducing Alex Vause (played by Laura Prepon), who is a love interest of Chapman.

[9] Nichols engages in a competition with Carrie "Big Boo" Black (played by Lea DeLaria) to see who can have sex with the most women in the prison.

[13] Nichols and Big Boo attempt to sell their stash of heroin and they cooperate with correctional officer Joel Luschek, who finds a buyer.

While Red is becoming paranoid because of the correctional officer (CO) Piscatella, Nichols decides to take care of her but is eventually abducted by the CO. She is kept in a room tied up with the rest of her prison "family".

Nicky is held in Ad-Seg at the beginning of season six, along with Piper, Daya, Red, Taystee, Cindy, Blanca, Suzanne and Frieda.

In gen pop, Nicky arrives at C-Block and drops off the supplies needed to inseminate Blanca, she later shares a conversation with Red.

However, since Flores had to buy drugs off of C-Block and gave them to D-Block in order to get Diablo's semen snuck in, they get beat up during the insemination process in the library by Brock, Charlene Teng, Akers, Creech and Shruti Chambal.

They end up in the hospital ward, but Flores is released early to make room for Barbara, who OD'd on bath salts.

("Break the String") After they are released from the hospital ward, she spends time with Annalisa, Lorna and Nicky.

She also states she wants to have sex with someone to Lorna as she eyes up an inmate, Nicky mocks Barb when she is angered when Carol allegedly bought all the Noxzema.

("Chocolate Chip Nookie") Nicky comes into Lorna's cell and calls Adeola 'Miss Cleo', much to her annoyance.

Inside is a warning about Barbara's plan, so Copeland takes Carol into custody for protection and clears the salon.

("Well This Took a Dark Turn") On the day of the kickball game, Nicky officiates Piper and Alex's wedding, being sarcastic and lighthearted.

She manages to finally break through to Lorna, telling her that she just witnessed a C-Block wedding and the two of them head in the opposite direction of the field.

("Be Free") In season 7, Nichols is reunited with Red, Morello and Gloria in the new kitchen for immigrant detainees (ICE).

While working there, a volunteer chef from ICE, Shani Abboud, becomes the love interest of Nicky and they pursue a relationship together.

Distracted by her new love, she neglects Red who is deteriorating after spending time in isolation and develops early-onset dementia, which worsens over the season.

Her past love interest, Lorna, also begins having problems when she finds out her infant son died of pneumonia and cannot accept that his death was real.

Nicky discovers this when she attempts to perform oral sex on Abboud, who quickly admits that she is uncomfortable.

Abboud soon fails to impress the immigration judge and is deported back home, she gives Gloria her final note for Nicky.

Sarah Karlan of BuzzFeed praised the character's "impossibly quick wit" and "perfectly deadpan delivery".

[17] MTV's Crystal Bell called Nichols a "fan-favorite" and "our beloved smart mouth" and expressed disappointment at the character's departure in the third season.