‘Dying For Sex’ Has A True Story Behind It — What Happened To Molly Kochan In Real Life?

Cancer and sex don’t usually go together in the same sentence, but Dying for Sex, the new FX series, is changing that. The new TV show stars Michelle Williams as Molly, a woman who receives a terminal stage IV metastatic breast cancer diagnosis. She decides to leave her husband (Jay Duplass) to go on a journey of sexual exploration. Molly has never had an orgasm with her husband — or any sexual partner, for that matter — and so she’s determined to change that. Jenny Slate stars as her best friend Nikki, who helps her along what turns into a really kinky adventure.

“She chose to see it as an opportunity – to gather something together and take it and imbibe it, own it before she was divested of everything,” Michelle said to The Guardian about her character. “She’s saying, ‘I’m committing to this journey, and the only thing I’m taking with me is you, my best friend. I’m going to pursue my own pleasure in the midst of this illness, which is going to ultimately take my life and cause me a lot of pain. I’m going to continue to seek pleasure in this body, which is capable of both those things.'” Wow, if that’s not enough to empower you to live your life to the fullest — orgasms and all — I don’t know what is.

The only thing that makes this show even more powerful is knowing that it’s based on real life. Here’s what you need to know about the true story behind Dying For Sex.

Is Dying For Sex Based On A True Story?

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Dying For Sex is most definitely based on a true story. In real life, Molly Kochan really did leave her husband of 15 years after she received a terminal cancer diagnosis. She also recruited her best friend, Nikki Boyer, to help her on her journey of self-discovery. They even recorded a podcast together in 2018. The show recounts almost 200 of Molly’s dates and other escapades amidst her cancer treatment. That podcast? Aptly titled Dying For Sex, it became the inspiration for the TV series.

“I’m like, ‘I think your journey is a story, and I think it’s called Dying for Sex,'” Nikki told Vulture. “So then her sexual escapades became a check-in with me: ‘I’ve got to tell you what happened.'”

What Happened to Molly Kochan In Real Life?

Sadly, Molly died in March 2019. Molly and Nikki recorded the podcast up to nearly the end of Molly’s life. Molly also wrote a memoir from her hospital bed. “She said, ‘Promise me that you’ll publish my book. Promise me that you’ll do whatever you can to get this out here.’ She very much wanted to make her mark on this world,” Nikki said to Vulture. And that’s exactly what Nikki did.

The podcast was released on Wondery in 2020, and Nikki self-published Molly’s memoir, titled Screw Cancer: Becoming Whole, later that year. And that podcast and book led to the series Dying For Sex, which premieres April 4 on FX and Disney+.