'The Valley' star Nia Sanchez speaks out after Noelia Voigt and UmaSofia Srivastava gave up their Miss USA and Miss Teen USA crowns.
Nia Sanchez is supporting her Miss USA sisters.
On the heels of Miss USA Noelia Voigt and Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava relinquishing their crowns, ET spoke to the 2014 title holder, who expressed her support for both women.
Voigt's resignation came first, with the former Miss Utah writing on Instagram in part, "In life, I strongly value the importance of making decisions that feel best for you and your mental health. As individuals, we grow through experiencing different things in life that lead us to learning more about ourselves... Sadly, I have made the very tough decision to resign from the title of Miss USA 2023."
Sanchez was quick to show public support for Voigt, noting, "I can only imagine what is going on with Noelia to get to the point that she needs to resign as Miss USA... Sending lots of love to our Latina queen and I wish her so much luck on her next endeavor." It's a sentiment that Sanchez reiterated while speaking to ET.
"I know Noelia. She is kind of like a sister queen in multiple ways to me... I feel a very close connection to her," Sanchez said. "I've been able to be there for her throughout her years [in] Miss USA so far. I know, especially the last few months, it's been a little more difficult than what she anticipated. Any way that I can support her, I'm happy to do that. I'm definitely here for her."
While the women have exchanged texts since Voigt announced the news, they've yet to have an in-depth conversation about her decision.
"She is an incredibly strong woman," Sanchez praised. "I think it was a very powerful statement to make and something that must have taken a lot of strength to do, to step away from your dream. Being Miss USA has been her dream for years and it was something that she finally achieved, so to really focus on her mental health and be able to step away to focus on that, I'm very proud of her."
Following Voigt's resignation, Miss USA announced on Thursday that Miss Hawaii Savannah Gankiewicz will now serve as Miss USA 2023.
"I'm happy for her at the end of the day. I'm Miss USA, she's a new Miss USA, so I'm excited to welcome her into the sisterhood," Sanchez said. "It's just such troubling times that this is happening. I also feel for her because she's been getting already a lot of negative feedback. I'm here for her as a support system because I know being Miss USA can be hard, whether it's a year or three months."
Then there's Srivastava, who resigned as Miss Teen USA just days after Voigt relinquished her crown.
"After careful consideration," the 17-year-old titleholder wrote in part on Instagram, "I've decided to resign as I find that my personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization."
Sanchez expressed her support for Srivastava following the news, telling ET, "I have not spoken to UmaSofia, but I have seen just her incredible strength."
"[They] are standing up for where they're at in their life and doing what's absolutely best for them and this is the path that they've taken," she said of the two women. "It's not easy. I can't imagine how difficult it was to make the decision to step away from your dream job and I'm just proud of their strength."
As for what may have led the women to resign from their roles, Sanchez, who now stars on Bravo's The Valley, reflected on her own time as Miss USA.
"I always tell people it is some of the highest highs and the lowest lows," Sanchez recalled. "I describe it as a roller coaster because while it is an incredible year and such an honor -- there's so many wonderful things that you get to do and organizations that you get to speak on behalf of -- there's also really downtimes."
"I actually experienced depression for the first time during my years as Miss USA," she added, before explaining that the tough times were a result of many things.
"I just felt sad and overwhelmed. I think it had to do with a lot of factors -- being in a different state, not near my family or friends, being on call 24/7," she said. "... It's also hard to always have to turn it on and be camera ready no matter what you're actually feeling inside because the job must go on, the show must go on, you still need to continue to fulfill your duty."
Amid the challenging moments, Sanchez praised Miss USA for how the organization "fully supported our mental" with an on-call psychiatrist, but noted that at that time "there was a completely different organization that was running the program."
"I'm assuming that the organization is pulling together their thoughts and going to make a statement soon," Sanchez said. "I just hope that there's tons of transparency and that, within the organization, they are supporting the women that are representing the organization in the best way possible. If that hasn't been done, I hope that changes are made."
Sanchez added, "If there's more behind the scenes that hasn't been discussed, I hope they're able to share those things later because no one's really going to know what their year was like as Miss USA and Miss Teen USA unless they're able to say on their own behalf... I hope that their year is not something that is kept quiet."
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