For former Miss USA winner Nia Sanchez, her 2014 pageant memories are not all crowns and sashes.
The Valley star, 36, looked back on an unsettling moment from her Miss USA era on Amanda Hirsch‘s Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, describing a rehearsal that took an uncomfortable turn during President Donald Trump‘s tenure as pageant owner.
“When Trump owned the Miss USA/Miss Universe organization, there was one time when he brought all of his golf buddies to come watch all of us rehearse,” Sanchez claimed, as per the unreleased clip obtained by Us Weekly. “It was actually kind of creepy.”
Trump sold the Miss Universe Organization in 2015.
(Photo by: Trae Patton/Bravo)
What unfolded next made the contestants even more uneasy. “We were in the middle of rehearsals and he brought all of these older men in to watch us perform,” she continued, adding that the men reportedly asked to take pictures with the women.
Sanchez said she drew her own line in the sand during that moment. “I definitely, very intentionally, grabbed and released one of their hands very specifically,” she claimed. “I was like, ‘Don’t ever put your hands on me without asking.’”
One awkward chapter has not dimmed her gratitude for the whole experience. Before joining Bravo’s world, Sanchez had already made her mark on the pageant stage.
The Las Vegas native was 24 and working as a tae kwon do instructor when she was crowned Miss USA 2014 while representing Nevada, according to ABC News. In 2015, Sanchez represented the U.S. at Miss Universe, where she finished as first runner-up among 88 contestants. Miss Colombia took the crown when the pageant aired on NBC, as per the Review Journal.
(Photo by: Rich Polk/Bravo)
Despite coming so close to victory, the former beauty queen says the crown still pays dividends for her family all these years later. “Since being Miss USA, I’m now hired by brands to promote them and post on social media,” she said during season 1 of The Valley, as per Bravo, at the time.
Sanchez and husband Danny Booko — whom she married in 2015 — share four kids: son Asher, 4; twin daughters Isabelle and Zariah, 3; and daughter Adelaide, 1.
Show business is already a family affair: Sanchez gave fans a behind-the-scenes look in an April 2024 Instagram video, revealing that twins Isabelle and Zariah split the role of Baby CeeCee on Young Sheldon before they could even walk.
This story ‘The Valley’ Star Nia Sanchez Claims President Trump Brought ‘Golf Buddies’ to Watch Miss USA Rehearsals first appeared on InTouch Weekly. Follow InTouch Weekly on Yahoo so you don’t miss what’s coming next.