Nichols was born and raised in Augusta, Maine, where she attended Cony High School. As a sophomore at Cony, she studied abroad in France. Nichols admitted to Latino Review that she "wasn't the hot chick" in high school, referring to herself instead as a "late bloomer."[1] Upon graduation, she headed to Columbia University in New York, intent on studying psychology. While growing up, Nichols enjoyed trekking through the outdoors and being on the water and loved windsurfing, sailing and just being on the water. She's currently known for her film work and for her portrayal of CIA agent Rachel Gibson on the ABC television series Alias.

• December 10, 2009: Hottie Clip #479: Zoe Saldana & Rachel Nichol's Extended Bra & Panties Scene - "STAR TREK"
• December 8, 2009: Hottie Clip #477: Rachel Nichol's Perfect Body & Teasing - "THE AMITYVILLE HORROR"
• December 4, 2009: ScreenCaps - G.I. Joe: G.I. Joe G.I. JOE: WAR OF THE CLEAVAGES passed the time just fine the first time I watched it. Then I had to screencap this bitch and couldn't help wanting to stab Canning Tatum in the face every time he wasted my time with his presence....
• October 2, 2009: Nichols Is Stylish: Some of these pictures from photographer Ben Watts' shoot of Rachel Nichols for InStyle magazine make the actress look incredibly hot. Others? Not so much. It's one of the reasons why I'm still on the fence about her. She's cute and she's even got...
• September 28, 2009: Hottie Clip #452: Rachel Nichols & Zoe Saldana In Bra & Panties - "STAR TREK"
• August 10, 2009: Nichols Violet Blunder: Well, Rachel Nichols and her team of super powers in G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA might have dominated the box office, but there's something strange about this purple outfit that she was spotted wearing over the weekend in New York City. I like a...
• August 5, 2009: Miller Rings Bell: Lots of important stuff happening yesterday. First, Rachel Nichols scored well as the Hot or Not selection of the week, then the cast from G.I. JOE: THE RISE OF COBRA came out to the New York Stock Exchange to ring the bell... oh, and it was our...
• July 28, 2009: Premiere: G.I. Joe (Tokyo): Well folks, it's a week and a half away from its big release and people are already starting to hear about how much fun it actually is. There's no doubt in my mind that "G.I. Joe - The Rise of Cobra" will undoubtedly be a great popcorn flick...
• July 20, 2009: G.I. Hotties In Sydney: With the 2009 San Diego Comic-Con only a couple of days away, you can imagine that the exclusives and news will be flying in left, right, center, up, down, etc. So it'll be a busy week for us here at MovieHotties.com as we'll be bringing you...
• August 4, 2009: Hot or Not: Rachel Nichols: There's something about certain hotties which catches my attention and never lets go. Isla Fisher, while in the midst of a resurgence of redheaded actress popularity, is my main bitch. (No offense to Amy Adams, but...
• May 1, 2009: Star Trek Premiere: Out of all of these pictures of all of these hotties for the Los Angeles premiere of STAR TREK last night, Heidi Klum was the only one to get into the spirit of things by sporting her Spock fingers. Guys, you hear about giving girls "The Shocker"...
• January 31, 2009: G.I. Joe Superbowl Spot: That's right my fellow hottie fans, the teaser trailer you've all either been dying to witness or absolutely dreaded seeing has finally arrived and in no less than full HD quality. The cool folks over at ComingSoon.net have just received the...
• June 25, 2008: Hottie Clip #261: Rachel Nichols Tongue Kisses Mimi Rogers - "DUMB & DUMBER: WHEN HARRY MET LLOYD"
• June 2, 2008: Body Shop: Rachel Nichols: How long does it take to become an overnight sensation in Hollywood? Looks like it may be just shy of a decade for this week's starlet in the making. Sure she's mostly had a career of near misses and forgettable support work, but...
• April 16, 2008: Nichols As GI Joe's Scarlett!: I for one am extremely excited for the new "G.I. Joe" movie for quite a few reasons including watching the Duke kick some Cobra Commanders ass and to hear those classic cheesy lines that made the show so popular. Like "Transformers", the...
• January 29, 2006: The "put the hot back in Alias" hottie: With Jennifer Garner's pregnancy this season, the producers behind "Alias" had to find a way to keep the "hottie in skimpy outfits kicking ass" theme that's become a staple of the show thanks to the pre-preggers Garner. Lucky for us, they...