[2][3] Nik Xhelilaj was born on 5 March 1983 in Tirana to a family originally from Southern Albania, specifically the Labëria region, with his father coming from Vlorë and his mother from Tepelenë.
[5] Nik originally wanted to pursue a career in law, but failed to win a place at university in the qualifying round.
In 2004, having just finished his freshman year, Nik was chosen by the experienced film director Pirro Milkani to play the lead role of Lekë Seriani in the film The Sorrow of Mrs. Schneider (Albanian: Trishtimi i zonjës Shnajder), which had strong autobiographical elements.
[6] It was also here that he became widely known by his stage name or nickname Nik, as the film's producers found the Albanian name Kreshnik difficult to pronounce and suggested a shorter version.
Xhelilaj was part of the first season of the reality show Dancing with the Stars, which took place between 18 February and 7 May 2010.