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Nia Booko Admits Watching The Valley Changed Her Opinion on the Lallys: “Unhealthy”
Although Michelle Lally often put on a "brave face," Nia Booko said actually seeing the show is how she realized her friend was "really unhappy."
Nia Booko may be a cast member on The Valley, but she’s seeing details of Michelle and Jesse Lally’s home life for the first time as they play out on the series just like the rest of us — and it’s changed how the mom of three views the relationship.
Nia told The Daily Dish that while she has spent time with the couple in social situations, watching The Valley and seeing how the Lallys interacted at home has given her a whole new perspective on the now-estranged couple.
“I mean, I think the most recent and kind of clear thing was about a week or two ago,” she said. “I text Michelle and I said, ‘I'm so sorry that I didn't know what was really going on with you and Jesse on a deeper level,’ and I didn't realize how unhealthy it was and how sad she was.”
Nia Booko has new opinion on Jesse and Michelle Lally's marriage after watching The Valley
Michelle and Jesse announced their decision to split just days before The Valley premiered in March.
Much of the first season has captured the wide divide between the two as they struggle to connect amid “constant conflict,” tackle rumors about their relationship, and often disagree about how to raise their young daughter, Isabella.
According to Nia, Michelle often put on a “brave face” during filming in front of her girlfriends.
“She said that she wasn't happy, but I didn't realize it was so bad,” Nia told The Daily Dish.
It wasn’t until Nia saw the couple’s exchanges at home play out on the show that she got a deeper understanding of the struggles they were facing.
“So things like that, watching it back going, ‘Ohhh, my gosh, they were really, really unhappy for quite some time,’” Nia said. “And I just wasn’t aware of how it really was.”
Here’s what you may have missed on Bravo:
Michelle Lally Defends Her New Relationship, Says Jesse Lally Is Also Dating
Brittany Reveals Jax Did Something "That Should Never Happen in a Marriage"
Jesse Lally Admits There Were 2 Subtle Clues Michelle Was Hiding Something in Their Marriage
One scene in particular was “intense” for the podcast host to rewatch. She told The Daily Dish that the epic fight between Kristen Doute and Jesse and Michelle during Episode 6 was much more volatile than she had ever even realized, since much of the drama spilled into the hallway and out of the earshot of the rest of the group.
“It was more intense watching it back than living it for me because I was not in the hallway and I didn't see what was really going on and I didn't see the level of energy that was happening,” Nia said.
A self-admitted “hopeless romantic,” Nia confessed initially she was hoping the real estate agents would find their way back to each other, but she realized after watching the show that likely wasn’t the healthiest solution and now “absolutely” understands the reason for the split.
Is Michelle Lally dating anyone?
Since the split, Michelle is looking toward a brighter future and recently shared on Brittany Cartwright and Jax Taylor’s podcast When Reality Hits, that she is dating “someone amazing.”
“I keep getting DMs, like, ‘How are you already dating? How is that possible?” Michelle shared in the April 25 podcast. “I’m 35 years old. I was more than ready to start dating. I didn’t want to be alone anymore. So absolutely I started dating and I found somebody I really like and we’ve been exclusively seeing each other.”
Michelle added that she and Jesse — who has also started to date — actually split in October before making a public announcement in March.
Nia is now wishing her friend the best as she embarks on the new chapter and told The Daily Dish she already shared that message with Michelle, telling her that she is “so happy for you that you are in a happier place now.”
Do Nia and Danny Booko want more children?
As for Nia and her actor hubby Danny Booko, the former Miss USA revealed that filming the show has brought them even closer together and was “really fun.”
“We approach life as in, like, we are Team Booko,” she said. “We do everything together. We do parenting together. We do adventures and travel together, and so we're doing the show together.”
If The Valley is able to secure a second season, she hopes to take viewers along as the couple searches for a bigger house and tries to decide whether they want to try for a fourth child.
“I know people might think we're crazy, but we have the thought to maybe want to try to have one more child, but I have gone through, believe it or not, even though I have three kids, I've gone through quite an infertility journey and my numbers of, like the eggs that are left in my body are extremely low,” she said. “So even if we wanna one more, I don't know if we would be able to have one more.”
To find out how the rest of the season plays out, watch The Valley Tuesday nights on Bravo or available streaming the next day on Peacock.
