Sam and Nia

Sam and Nia are YouTube vloggers based out of Terrell, Texas[1] who vlog about their daily life as a Christian family. They have over 100 videos that exceed one million views, 14 videos with over 10 million views, 6 that have over 20 million views, and 1 that has over 60 million views.[2] They first rose to prominence when they made a video of themselves lip-syncing to the song "Love Is An Open Door" from Frozen titled "Good Looking Parents Sing Disney's Frozen (Love Is an Open Door)".[3] The video was an instant success and went viral in march of 2014, it currently has over 23 million views.[4][5]

Sam and Nia
Sam and Nia Rader Family by Matthew T Rader
Sam and Nia co-founders
Nia Rader (left) and Sam Rader (right) in 2016 with their three children Symphony, Abram, and Juliet.
Personal information
BornSamuel Paul Rader (born October 26, 1985)

NiaChel Jonique Rader (née Rand, born September 2, 1988)
OriginTerrell, Texas
NationalityAmerican
OccupationYouTube Vloggers
Websitesamandnia.com
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2014–Present
GenreVlog
Subscribers2.6 million+
Total views1 Billion+
NetworkFullscreen
100,000 subscribers 2014
1,000,000 subscribers 2016

In August 2015 Sam and Nia had another viral video of Sam surprising Nia with her own pregnancy.[6] A few days later, they announced that their pregnancy ended in a miscarriage.[7] They currently have over 2.6 million subscribers.[8] They have since announced this year they are expecting their 4th child.

Relationship and marriage

Sam and Nia met while attending Wills Point High School in Wills Point, Texas. They also simultaneously attended Trinity Valley Community College, where they both received associate degrees. Sam transferred to The University of Texas at Arlington where he received his BS degree in nursing.[9] They dated for about 5 years until they married in Wills Point on September 12, 2009.[10] Sam worked as an ER nurse and Nia as a manager of a Maurices store at the Tanger Factory Outlet Center in Terrell, Texas for the first 4 years of their marriage.[11] On July 18, 2010, their daughter Symphony Pearl Rader was born. Then on September 18, 2013, their son Abram Samuel was born. Juliet Elizabeth, their youngest child, was born on June 1, 2016.[12]

YouTube history

Viral video of "Love Is An Open Door" lip sync

On March 10, 2014 Sam uploaded a video titled "Good Looking Parents Sing Disney's Frozen (Love Is an Open Door)".[13] The video was picked up by news stations and websites all over the world and quickly became a viral video.[14] The video has amassed over 22 million views. The success of the video caused the amount of subscribers to their YouTube channel to increase greatly. Within one month they had over 35,000 subscribers.[15] Their sudden burst into Internet fame gained them the attention of Disney who had them do a cameo appearance in a music video based on another song from the movie Frozen.[16]

Viral pregnancy announcement

On June 2015 Sam uploaded a video of him surprising his wife with her own pregnancy by dipping a pregnancy test into a toilet bowl with her urine in it on a morning she didn't flush it. The video was called, "HUSBAND SHOCKS WIFE WITH PREGNANCY ANNOUNCEMENT!"[17] and it was immediately picked up by the media and went viral.[18] Within two days it had over 5 million views, it currently has a total of 18 million views. The video caused a fair amount of controversy, including Vanity Fair and Mic questioning whether a man had the right to know a woman was pregnant before she knew herself.[19][20] To dispute the claims made by Sam and Nia in their video, Buzzfeed interviewed a doctor and published an article casting doubt on the ability to get a positive pregnancy test result from toilet bowl water.[21]

Miscarriage

Three days later, while the video was still going viral, in another emotional video (now removed), Sam and Nia announced that their pregnancy suddenly ended in a miscarriage.[22][23] This announcement received mixed reactions. Articles and videos were made in support of them and others were made doubting the authenticity of their claims. Sam admitted that Nia had not gone to a doctor to be looked at, he said it was unnecessary because he was a registered nurse and already knew how to handle the situation.[24] This created even more doubt. Sam and Nia have insisted that they were completely honest in their pregnancy and miscarriage videos.[25] Sam and Nia have also insisted that they do not regret announcing the pregnancy so early. They said they feel the goal of their channel is to be authentic and allow their viewers to experience life as they experience it and allow their faith in God be demonstrated in everyday and in tragic life moments.[26]

Scandal

Three days after the miscarriage was announced, it was revealed that Sam had an account on the affair website Ashley Madison three years prior.[27] Most of the major news websites and magazine quickly picked up this story and ran it, including Buzzfeed, Cosmopolitan, Perez Hilton, and many others.[28][29][30] Within two days Sam, with Nia by his side, released a video (now removed) acknowledging and apologizing for having the account and said God and Nia has forgiven him.[31] This video caused even more controversy and backlash and was seen as a cop out.[32] Despite all of the controversy, their subscriber count grew greatly.[33] The Ashley Madison scandal broke in the news while Sam and Nia were attending Vlogger Fair in Seattle. While there Sam encountered another family vlogger he accused of liking a tweet critical of him.[34] He apparently started yelling at the other vlogger.[35] He was then asked to leave Vlogger Fair, which he complied without issue.

Hiatus

After the preceding controversies, Sam and Nia announced that they were going to take a hiatus from vlogging for an indefinite amount of time. They said they needed time to recover from their controversies and spend time on focusing on and healing their marriage and family.[36]

Return

A petition on Change.org was created to convince Sam and Nia to return to vlogging. 33 days later, Sam and Nia resumed vlogging, initially not daily as they had before.[37] They published vlogs several times a week until they resumed their daily vlogging about a month later. Sam and Nia's handling of their controversy has become a formula for other religious vloggers that have had controversies; make a video acknowledging and apologizing for what happened, take a hiatus, and gradually return to vlogging.[38]

Fourth pregnancy

On October 23, 2015 Sam and Nia uploaded a video announcing that they were pregnant once again. They made the announcement by surprising both their mothers by placing a literal bun in the oven.[39] This video also went viral but not to the same extent as the previous pregnancy announcement video.[40] This pregnancy led to the birth of their daughter Juliet.[41] They continue to daily post vlogs about their life and the life of their children on YouTube.[42]

Rankings
  • The Daily Dot in December 2015 listed Sam and Nia as the 3rd most influential YouTubers of 2015.[43]
  • Teen.com in May 2016 listed Sam as one of six YouTubers caught in major cheating scandals.[44]
  • Digital Spy in February 2017 listed Sam and Nia as number six of 7 of YouTube's most shocking scandals.[45]
  • The Verge in June 2017 said Sam caused one of the five biggest YouTube scandals of all time.[46]

Filmography
Year(s) Show or Music Video Role Producer Ref(s)
2014 In Summer (from "Frozen") Sam Rader - the bus driver & male teacher
Nia Rader - a lunch lady & female teacher		 Disney Music Group [47]
2014 Good Looking Parents Sing Frozen, Again... (Love is an open door) Sam Rader - himself
Nia Rader - herself		 YouTube Music Awards [48]
2015 Nightline, Quest For Clicks (Interview) Sam Rader - himself
Nia Rader - herself		 ABC News [49]

Awards and nominations
Year Award Category Recipient Result Ref(s)
2014 Artists Music Guild Video of the Year "Good Looking Parents Sing Disney's Frozen (Love Is an Open Door)" Won

References
  1. "About Us". Facebook. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  2. "YouTube Channel Popular Video List". YouTube. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  3. "Good Looking Parents Sing Disney's Frozen (Love Is an Open Door)". YouTube. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  4. "Parents go viral with perfect 'Frozen' lip-sync video". Today.com. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  5. "Good Looking Parents Sing Disney's Frozen (Love Is an Open Door)". YouTube. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  6. "HUSBAND SHOCKS WIFE WITH PREGNANCY ANNOUNCEMENT!". YouTube. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  7. "Sam and Nia on Viewers Who Doubt Their Pregnancy and Miscarriage – And Why They'd Announce Early Again". Time Inc. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  8. "samuel8955 YouTube Stats, Channel Statistics - Socialblade.com". Socialblade.com. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  9. "TUESDAY'S CUTE EIGHT Q&A #7". YouTube. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  10. "Good Looking Parents Q&A". YouTube. Retrieved August 30, 2017.
  11. "Tuesday's Cute Eight Q&As #5 by Sam and Nia". YouTube. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  12. "THE MIRACULOUS BIRTH OF JULIET! 👼🏻 (Birth Vlog)". YouTube. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  13. "Good Looking Parents Sing Disney's Frozen (Love Is an Open Door)". YouTube. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  14. "Parents go viral with perfect 'Frozen' lip-sync video". Today. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  15. "samuel8955 YouTube Stats, Channel Statistics". Socialblade.com. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  16. "FROZEN'S "IN SUMMER" GETS A REBOOT IN THIS AWESOME NEW VIDEO". Disney. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  17. "HUSBAND SHOCKS WIFE WITH PREGNANCY ANNOUNCEMENT!". YouTube. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  18. "A Husband Did the Impossible and Surprised His Wife With Their Pregnancy News—Watch Now!". E! Entertainment Television, LLC. A Division of NBCUniversal. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  19. "Men Shouldn't Get to Surprise Women with a Pregnancy". Vanity Fair, Condé Nast. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  20. "There's Something a Little Troubling About the Viral Male Pregnancy Reveal Video". Mic Network Inc. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  21. "Doctors Cast Doubt On Viral Video Stars Sam And Nia's Pregnancy Claims". BuzzFeed News. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  22. "Vlogger Couple Grieves Miscarriage Three Days After Announcing Pregnancy in Viral Video". Gawker.com. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  23. "Days After Viral Pregnancy Announcement, YouTube Stars Sam and Nia Share Heartbreaking Miscarriage News". People, Time Inc. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  24. "WHY WE NEVER SAW A DOCTOR". YouTube. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  25. "Couple Behind Viral Baby Announcement Insists Pregnancy Was Real After Suffering Miscarriage". Inside Edition Inc. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  26. "After a miscarriage, Sam and Nia explain why they don't regret their viral pregnancy announcement". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  27. "The YouTube Star Who Surprised His Wife With a Pregnancy Announcement Was on Ashley Madison?!". E! Entertainment Television, LLC. A Division of NBCUniversal. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  28. "Oh Crap, Sam Rader Had An Ashley Madison Account". BuzzFeed. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  29. "Sam Rader of Christian Vloggers "Sam & Nia" Admits He Had Ashley Madison Account". Cosmopolitan, Hearst Communications, Inc. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  30. "YouTube Surprise Pregnancy Husband Admits To His Ashley Madison Account — But He Says He's Already Been Forgiven, By God And His Wife!". PerezHilton.com. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  31. "Sam and Nia Star Speaks Out on Ashley Madison Account: 'My Wife Has Forgiven Me'". People.com, Time Inc. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  32. "God forgives Christian YouTube star who used Ashley Madison". National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  33. "How a stunt pregnancy announcement, and a miscarriage, turned Sam and Nia into YouTube stars". National Post, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  34. "Sam and Nia Channel". YouTube. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  35. "EXCLUSIVE: YouTuber Confronted by "Sam & Nia" Dad Responds". What's Trending. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  36. "Viral Christian Vloggers Sam and Nia Are Taking an Internet Break". Cosmopolitan, Hearst Communications, Inc. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  37. "ARE WE EVER COMING BACK?". YouTube. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  38. "The Nive Nulls: Austin Null ADMITS To CHEATING On Wife Britt Null For FIVE Months!". Family-Vlogs. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  39. "SON SHOCKS MOM WITH PREGNANCY ANNOUNCEMENT!!". YouTube. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  40. "Christian Vloggers Announce Pregnancy Months After Miscarriage". Inside Edition Inc. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  41. "THE MIRACULOUS BIRTH OF JULIET! 👼🏻 (Birth Vlog)". YouTube. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  42. "Sam and Nia Channel". YouTube. Retrieved August 31, 2017.
  43. "The most influential YouTubers of 2015". The Daily Dot. Retrieved August 26, 2017.
  44. "6 of Your Fave YouTube Stars Who Were Caught in Serious Cheating Scandals". Teen.com, Defy Media. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  45. "7 of YouTube's most shocking scandals, from fake kidnappings to fake pregnancies". Digital Spy, Hearst Magazines UK , Defy Media. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  46. "YOUTUBE'S GOSSIP VLOGGERS HAVE CREATED THEIR OWN TABLOID INDUSTRY". The Verge, Vox Media, Inc. Retrieved September 1, 2017.
  47. "In Summer (from "Frozen")". Disney Music. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  48. "Good Looking Parents Sing Frozen, Again..." YouTube Music Awards. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  49. "Nightline, Quest For Clicks". Nightline ABC News. Retrieved July 21, 2017.

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