Sam and Nia

On March 10, 2014, Sam uploaded a video titled "Good Looking Parents Sing Disney's Frozen (Love Is an Open Door)".[14] The video was picked up by news stations and websites all over the world and quickly became a viral video.[15] The video has amassed over 22 million views. The success of the video caused the number of subscribers to their YouTube channel to increase greatly. Within one month they had over 35,000 subscribers.[16] 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.[17]

In 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 did not flush it. The video was called, "HUSBAND SHOCKS WIFE WITH PREGNANCY ANNOUNCEMENT!"[18] and it was immediately picked up by the media and went viral.[19] 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.[20][21] 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.[22]

Three days after the pregnancy announcement video, Sam and Nia released another video (which has since been removed) announcing that their pregnancy had ended in a miscarriage.[23][24] 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.[25] This created even more doubt. Sam and Nia have insisted that they were completely honest in their pregnancy and miscarriage videos.[26] 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.[27]

Three days after the miscarriage was announced, it was revealed that Sam had an account on the affair website Ashley Madison three years prior.[28] Many major news websites and magazines picked up the story, including BuzzFeed, Cosmopolitan, and Perez Hilton.[29][30][31] Two days later, Sam, with Nia by his side, released a video (now removed) acknowledging and apologizing for having the account and said that God and Nia had forgiven him.[32] This video caused further controversy and criticism.[33] Despite the controversy, their subscriber count grew greatly.[34]

After the 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.[35]

A petition on Change.org was created to convince Sam and Nia to return to vlogging. Sam and Nia resumed vlogging only 33 days later, though not daily as they had before.[36] 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 who have had controversies: make a video acknowledging and apologizing for what happened, take a hiatus, and gradually return to vlogging.[37]

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.[38] This video also went viral but not to the same extent as the previous pregnancy announcement video.[39] Their third child, daughter Juliet, was born seven months later.[40] They continue to daily post vlogs about their family's lives on YouTube.[41]