Nia Sanchez

Nia Temple Booko (née Sanchez) is an American reality television personality and former beauty pageant titleholder best known for winning Miss USA 2014 and finishing as first runner-up at Miss Universe 2014. Born on February 15, 1990, she has also appeared in the reality television series The Valley.

Sanchez was born in Sacramento, California, to David Sanchez and Nicole Sanford. Her paternal grandfather is of Mexican descent, her paternal grandmother is German, and her mother has Spanish, English, and other European heritage. Her parents divorced when she was six years old. At age eight, she moved to Menifee, California, with her father and brother, and she graduated from Paloma Valley High School in 2008.

Outside of pageantry, Sanchez began practicing taekwondo at age eight, eventually earning a fifth-degree black belt. She also studied jazz and ballet for five years. After high school, she worked as a nanny in Europe, served on a three-month mission in Mexico, and spent seven months in 2012 portraying various Disney princess characters at Hong Kong Disneyland.

Her pageantry career began at age 13 when she entered Miss San Jacinto Valley. At 19, she won Miss Citrus Valley USA, qualifying her for Miss Turismo Latino 2009 in Ecuador. She was second runner-up at Miss California USA 2010 and subsequently won titles including Miss Riverside County USA 2011 and Miss Hollywood USA 2012.

Representing South Las Vegas, Sanchez won Miss Nevada USA in January 2014. On June 8, 2014, she represented Nevada and won Miss USA 2014 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where she was crowned by Erin Brady. She went on to represent the United States at Miss Universe 2014 in January 2015, wearing a Vegas showgirl national costume and finishing as first runner-up behind Paulina Vega of Colombia. She holds the distinction of being the first Miss USA featured on the cover of Tae Kwon Do Times.

In subsequent media roles, Sanchez hosted the documentary film Budget or Baller in 2018 and co-hosted Miss Teen USA 2019 alongside Tim Tialdo. In January 2024, she launched the podcast Hold My Crown with Nia Sanchez. In March 2024, she began appearing in Bravo's reality series The Valley, a spinoff of Vanderpump Rules that follows five couples navigating parenthood, relationships, and business.

In her personal life, Sanchez married actor Daniel Booko on October 17, 2015, in Temecula, California. Together, the couple has four children: a son and three daughters, including a set of identical twins.