Here’s What Happened To The Real-Life Molly From Dying For Sex

On FX on Hulu’s Dying for Sex, Michelle Williams plays Molly, a woman who’s diagnosed with terminal cancer and leaves her marriage to explore her sexuality.

That endeavor prompts Molly to rendezvous with multiple sexual partners over the series, which has been praised for its bittersweet blend of heart and humor. But Molly’s relationship with her best friend, Nikki (Jenny Slate), is truly the soul of the show — and for good reason. Dying for Sex is based on real-life friends Molly Kochan and Nikki Boyer’s podcast of the same name.

What Happened To Molly Kochan?

During her first time undergoing treatment for breast cancer, Kochan found that the hormone therapy she thought would decrease her libido “had the opposite reaction,” she shared on the podcast. “Like, I literally wanted to hump everything and everyone that I saw.”

While she explored some connections digitally — her then-husband was supportive — it wasn’t until the disease returned as stage IV in 2015 that Kochan began her journey of sexual exploration in earnest.

“Intimacy is a really important part of being human, and disease and illness makes it very difficult for you to want to explore intimacy,” she said. “Because all of a sudden it feels like a luxury, not a need.”

She left her marriage, but said on Dying for Sex that her ex remained one of her “best friends.”

Kochan died in March 2019, but not before documenting her journey. In addition to recording Dying for Sex with Boyer, Kochan ran an Instagram account by the same name — posting photos in lingerie paired with honest musings about her experience with cancer in her final year. She also penned a memoir, released posthumously.

“She very much wanted to make her mark on this world,” Boyer recently told Vulture. Six years later, Boyer, an executive producer on the new series, is helping Kochan do just that.

Remembering A Late Friend

Watching Williams and Slate depict Kochan’s experience “really makes me miss my best friend,” Boyer told Washington, D.C.’s WTTG. “I really miss her. But I’m getting little pieces of her through this show.”

In a recent Instagram post, Boyer spoke to Kochan directly. “Your bravery and authenticity is not lost on me during this wild ride,” she wrote. “It all comes back to you. I’m holding you close during each moment and remembering how this all started.”