Ashley Madison: Sex, Lies & Scandal landed on Netflix this week and has already climbed to the top of the UK chart. The real-life story involved a data leak of details of the members of the most high-profile adultery website in the world, Ashley Madison.
The new three-part documentary, which dropped on Netflix on 15th May, profiles some of the most high-profile men exposed during the data leak scandal and gives an insight into the inner workings of the business. Viewers also get an insight into Noel Biderman, Ashley Madison's former CEO.
Sam and Nia Rader seemed to have an unshakeable bond, rising to fame on YouTube with a series of videos documenting their perfect family life. But things became tense between the couple when the website was hacked in July 2015.
A list of Ashley Madison users - exposing the personal information of approximately 37 million users - was released to the world, breaking up countless marriages and relationships, with some high-profile names in the mix. Sam Rader was one of those names.
This threw the couple's marriage into turmoil, with Nia questioning everything she thought she knew about her devout Christian husband. Naturally, since the show aired viewers have questioned 'Are Sam and Nia still together?' and whether their marriage was able to survive such a catastrophic blow.
Are Sam and Nia still together?
Yes, Sam and Nia are still together, despite their turbulent relationship.
Childhood sweethearts Sam and Nia were married when they were just 24 (Sam) and 20 (Nia) and went on to have a happy family life with four children. After posting a video in the car of the family singing Frozen went viral, the couple rose to YouTube fame as some of the early vloggers, with a focus on their seemingly idyllic family life.
Tensions started to rise for Sam when the news broke that hackers, who identified themselves as The Impact Team, had carried out a cyber attack on Ashley Madison in July 2015, saying that they would expose the identities of members unless the website's parent company, ALM, shut down the website.
In August, on the 30-day deadline, after Ashley Madison failed to shut down the website, The Impact Team released the data along with the message. 'Time's up! We have explained the fraud, deceit, and stupidity of ALM and their members. Now everyone gets to see their data.'
Sam had previously signed up to Ashley Madison as he had become 'disillusioned' with married life, but later realised that it was one of the 'biggest mistakes' of his life. He said in the documentary, "When I signed up for Ashley Madison I made one of the biggest mistakes of my life."
As the truth came out that Sam had visited strip clubs and massage palours, Nia said that, "Every single aspect of my life up to this point felt like a lie."
Despite the drama for the couple, they're still together to this day, with the documentary showing Sam's greatfulness for his 'forgiveness'. Sam explained, "I have sought forgiveness from God and He has forgiven me, so I have been completely cleansed of this sin."
While on her Instagram Reels, Nia explained, "The number question I’m being presented with: how did we tell our kids about the documentary without giving them details of their dad’s past!"
She then continued, "Feel free to ask questions and I’ll share what I feel comfortable in the comments."
