Nia Sanchez and Danny Booko have confirmed they are saying goodbye to The Valley after a rocky season 3, with a source revealing more about the decision to Us.
“We will not be returning to The Valley. We’re incredibly grateful for this experience but our priority is protecting our peace and our family. We are fully committed to each other and our beautiful children,” Nia, 36, and Danny, 42, said in a joint Instagram statement on Tuesday, September 1.
The announcement arrived less than one month after the cast’s most recent — and contentious — reunion aired.
A source told Us on Tuesday that Bravo producers “felt their relationship and dynamic with the cast was not as organic as other couples.”
Us has reached out to Bravo for comment on the casting change.
The duo’s statement continued, “We want to thank everyone for all the love and support you’ve shown us. Thank you to Bravo and the team for everything. We are looking forward to what the next chapter brings. With so much love, Danny + Nia.”
News of Nia and Danny’s departure comes after the couple faced backlash from fans — and had tense relationships with many of their costars — during season 3 of the hit series.
During a May episode of The Valley, Danny raised eyebrows for how he spoke to Nia while she was doing his hair and makeup for what should have been a friendly drag competition.
Lala Kent faced off against Danny during the same episode, expressing concern over how he must treat Nia behind closed doors since he was so gruff with her in public. (Danny was also drinking during the episode, which some of his castmates have criticized him for, especially when he hides it from them.)
Danny publicly apologized to his wife after the altercation, but he exclusively told Us in June that fans’ hatred toward him has yet to subside.
“Unfortunately, thousands of hate comments that I’ve been getting are just so hard and so vulgar and so just extreme,” Danny revealed. “I have never experienced anything like this in my life.”
Nia, meanwhile, told Us that the pair were in counseling and focused on establishing health communication.
“We are committed to our marriage and we’re both committed to making it work,” she said at the time. “Depending on the season of life and who’s going through what and all those things, it might mean that one person is putting in a little more work than the other, but we both are committed to making it work.”
After filming season 3, Nia exclusively told Us that she and Danny were facing the negative comments together — and had no plans to break up after more than 10 years of marriage.
“I’ve always told Daniel the No. 1 most important thing — and we’ve both said this to each other — is the health of our marriage,” she explained in late June. “If we feel like we’re getting to a place that’s not something we can quickly rebound from, then we need to put a pause to focus on the health of our marriage and longevity of that for us and our kids.”
The former Miss USA, who shares son Asher, 4, twin daughters Isabelle and Zariah, 3, and baby girl Adelaide, 15 months, noted, “That’s the most important thing over anything else — our family — so we’re in a lot better place now with the therapy and the work that we’re both really putting in.”
Nia and Danny were a united front during The Valley’s three-part reunion, which aired in August, but they didn’t have it easy.
Danny came under fire for his drinking issues at the reunion, in addition to his lack of support for Nia so soon after she gave birth to their fourth child.
“It did feel when watching that Nia [that] you are in this completely solo,” Lala, 35, said during part 2 of the reunion.
Nia, however, denied that was true, saying that Danny is the “most involved dad” and usually helps put their kids down and change diapers — even if he didn’t on the cast trip to San Diego.
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