Sam Rader of of viral Christian vlogging couple Sam and Nia has admitted to having an account on Ashley Madison, a website created to facilitate adulterous affairs, but has said that both God and his wife have forgiven him for his past "mistake."
The confession, which was posted to the couple's official YouTube account, came shortly after The Daily Mail reported that the 29-year-old had used the service, according to information released last week by data hackers.
"As you may have seen, my name has been associated with an Ashley Madison account," Sam says in the video while Nia sits beside him.
"I'm here to clarify some of this with you guys, 'cause I owe it to you: I did make the account. I made the account two years ago. This is an issue that is in our past. This was before I got onto YouTube."
He explained that his wife, with whom he has two young children, has already forgiven him for opening the account, and he has confessed his sin to God.
"I brought this to my church at the time [and] to my discipleship partner, and to my wife's attention. She has forgive me for this mistake that I have made," he said. "I've sought forgiveness to God and he's forgiven me. So I've been completely cleansed of this sin."
Sam also emphasized that he never actually met with anyone "face to face" through Ashley Madison. "I've never had an affair with anybody, ever, while I've been married with Nia," he said. "The account was opened out of pure fleshly desires and out of simple curiosity."
He also addressed those who question his faith in light of the revelation: "I guess what some people don't understand is that we're all broken, even Christians. We come to God as broken people, and He sent Jesus on the cross to save us from those sins."
Sam added that because the issue is in the past and has been "completely resolved" in his family and within his church, he and his wife "won't be saying any more on this matter."
"This is why we need a Savior, we're sinful by nature..this is what the atonement is all about, forgiveness and second chances," he said.
Nia also contended in the video that she stands by her husband and has indeed forgiven him for his past actions.
"And I just want to add, too, that I have forgiven Sam," she said. "This is in our past and it's unfortunate that it's being dug up right now. But our marriage is worth fighting for, and it always will be."
As previously reported by the Gospel Herald, the Texas couple, who have been vlogging for eight years, made headlines after they released a video showing Sam telling an unsuspecting Nia that she was pregnant. The video, titled "First Time Ever Daddy Announces the Pregnancy to Mommy," has since received over 14 million views.
Less than a week later, the couple released a video revealing that they had miscarried.
The Raders aren't the public figures to have been exposed by the stolen Ashley Madison data. Former "19 Kids and Counting" star Josh Duggar also admitted to having two separate accounts with the site after gossip website Gawker found an email address tied to his name.
