Among all the wild antics of Netflix’s Ashley Madison three-part documentary is the inclusion of Sam and Nia. The Christian vloggers were just one of thousands of couples torn apart by the data leak, but perhaps one of the most visible faces. Sam’s torrid affairs under the username dirty_little_secret_man were brought to light, and both he and his wife Nia willingly discussed it all in the documentary. That takes guts, some Olivia Rodrigo-level GUTS. So what now for the Frozen-loving and pee-stealing duo? Are Sam and Nia still together? Let’s dive into whether either of them has had to change their Facebook relationship status since this all happened — as you bet they’re the kind of Millennials that do that.
Who are Sam and Nia?
In case you’re fucking confused right now, let’s discuss who these people actually are. Sam and Nia Rader are a pair of devout Christians who built a large online following on YouTube. They first went viral for posting a clip of themselves lipsyncing to “Love is an Open Door” in the car with a title referring to themselves as “good-looking parents.” Apparently, the public agreed, as they gained over a million hits and plenty of followers. They embraced their new vlogging lifestyle, and the additional income allowed Sam to stop working as an ER nurse.
Around this time, they had another popular video where Sam revealed to Nia that she was pregnant with their second child by testing her pee… I don’t get why her pee was just sitting in the toilet but okay!!!
Things were all going well for them until the massive Ashley Madison hack. Sam had deleted his account approximately two years previously and somehow thought he’d be safe (a vlogger who doesn’t understand things never leave the internet, cool), but he was also outed in the process.
What was revealed about Sam and Nia?
Initially, Sam only told Nia and then his fans that he had signed up for the website “out of pure fleshly desire and just simple curiosity.” He specified that he had never actually cheated, just contacted a bunch of women. It almost feels worse if he wasn’t successful. If I was Nia, I’d be thinking… why does no one on a cheating website want him??
But eventually, the truth came out, and Sam had to experience some JoJo Siwa level “Karma.” Not only had Sam been using the full services of the site (fucking other women), he had also approached one of Nia’s friends!! The poor girlie had turned him down and then distanced herself from Nia, which she now revealed was so painful at the time as she didn’t understand why. I get that, like sure, go cheat BUT DON’T GET IN THE WAY OF ME AND MY BESTIE!
What happened after the Ashley Madison hack?
At this point, Sam and Nia had been married for six years and together for 11 years. They shared two children: Symphony and Abram. Sam moved out of the house but the couple agreed to try counseling with their minister. “I had to let go of that fairytale facade. I was devastated, so angry and hurt. And I was totally shocked because he had always been such a moral person,” Nia said of the time.
But in a true show of Christian forgiveness and love for family vlogging, Nia decided to make it work. The pair recommitted in a vow renewal ceremony in 2019. Since the leak, they’ve welcomed two more children to the vlog: Juliet and Josie Grace. They’ve apparently explained everything that happened to their kids. Maybe not to the 3 year old, but I’m sure that’ll come on the vlog one day.
Are Sam and Nia still together? Like, for real?
The couple is still going strong!!! They appeared in the Ashley Madison documentary to share their story, although they claim God was responsible for the reveal of the affair, not the hackers. “The bible is clear, God won’t be mocked, and I was out as a professing Christian and living with all these secrets and Nia, who is this strong woman, he was protecting her, and he exposed me for what I was, and I give him the credit for it and not the hackers. I know it impacted other people differently,” Sam explained.
Of his choice to participate in the documentary, Sam said, “God has been preparing me for this moment. I have been surrounded by brothers and Christ to open up about these things and I owe it to them to strengthen me and be open about my betrayals. I see time and time again so many men in the same place I was and if I can help other marriages, I will do whatever it takes.”
“Failing in a marriage doesn’t just impact your spouse, it impacts your children, and as I have seen in my past, it echos in generations to come. It is so important that we stop and make good decisions. God has called me to be open about this on Netflix,” Sam said.
Sam and Nia Rader post-documentary
The couple were not out of the woods yet, as they have faced a bunch of online trolls since the documentary came out. Many people have reached out to clarify that Sam doesn’t deserve Nia, especially after seeing her emotionally share the “abandonment” and “rejection” she felt from her husband’s actions.
To his credit, Sam agrees with his haters and says, “People who say I don’t deserve Nia are right. I’m a very lucky man.”
“I’m the face of happily married men who go on Ashley Madison and I’m taking the brunt of people’s anger about men cheating,” Sam continued. “But I get it, as I’ve invited this on myself. I don’t regret the data leak it had to happen at some point. My secrets were eating away at me. I hate that men are acting outside of their marriage, and I hate that I did it. Adultery destroys families.”
In response to the positive and negative responses she has received, Nia said, “A lot of people see me as a dummy for ignoring all the red flags, but that’s just not true. The mistake I made was that I was too in love to see the warning signs. Sam is so honest with me now, and I trust that he’s not still doing these things. And what many people don’t realise is that he didn’t only stop because he was caught. The data breach happened in 2015, and the last time Sam cheated was 2013. He had already come to his senses but was carrying a huge secret. I forgive him.”
But if you really want the full story, you’ll have to check out their new book. Yep, from vloggers to cheating scandals to authors! They’ve told their story in their book, Live in Truth: Public Scandal | Secret Vows | Restored Hearts, in which they alternated writing chapters. It also discusses how it wasn’t really Sam’s fault, as he had an absent father. Nia had an absent father too, and lost her mother at a young age, but somehow didn’t cheat and instead supported him through and through. They’re also still going strong on YouTube with emoji-filled videos.
To surmise: love may be an open door, but their relationship no longer is.
