Just when you thought Hollywood love stories couldn't get any better, we found another
one to have you all swooning!
In Netflix's raunchy series Sex/Life, two lead actors, Sarah Shahi and Adam Demos fell
in love on set and are dating in real life.
What you may not know is that the actress was previously married for over ten years
to Steve Howey and was divorced just before she started to work on Sex/Life.
Why did her marriage come to an end, and did it have anything to do with her new budding
romance with her co-star?
Sarah Shahi met her former husband, Steve Howey, when she guest-starred on an episode
of his former series Reba in 2004.
There is not much known about the beginning of their romance, but we know that the couple
got engaged in 2007 in Hawaii and were married two years later in Las Vegas.
Just a few months after their wedding, Sarah and Steve welcomed their first child together,
William Wolf Howey.
In 2015, the couple's family was joined by twins Violet Moon and Knox Blue Howey.
Steve and Sarah did their best to maintain privacy around their family life.
However, in a 2016 interview, the actor shared that he and Sarah had recently recovered from
a very rough patch in their marriage.
He admitted, "When we had the kids, it was really tough.
We're both working actors, so we were very tired, and when we'd come back, if there was
any energy left, it was for the kids, and not for each other."
Steve also confessed that their struggle to balance their work and home life almost ended
their marriage.
He explained, "We didn't really understand why, we just weren't liking each other and
we realized that things weren't the same and it was really messed up."
At the same time, he also praised Shahi for her ability to balance motherhood alongside
a busy acting career.
He shared, "Anyone that says parenting is not hard is not doing it right.
I don't see my friends anymore.
I don't see my immediate family as much as I should."
He added, "But my wife, Sarah, is the hero.
Three kids — and starring in a TV series?
That woman is a warrior."
The pair made their marriage work for so long because they tried to "keep a lot of normality
in our family" outside of their Hollywood careers.
In a 2019 interview, Shahi discussed the importance of each partner pulling their weight in a
marriage.
She explained, "Steve and I, we've been together for 18 years.
You know, there's a special place in heaven for us because we've already been to hell.
It's a partnership, you know?"
She added that when you have kids, it's especially important to be able to rely on your partner.
Unfortunately, by the beginning of 2020, the couple had separated, and Steve filed for
divorce in May, citing "irreconcilable differences."
The former couple has not publicly spoken out about their divorce but released a joint
statement, sharing, "As we enter into this new phase of our lives, our priority will
remain co-parenting our children with so much love, mutual respect, and friendship."
Perhaps it really was their conflicting schedules and struggling to make time for their marriage
while raising three kids that led to the couple's split?
Since Howey had admitted in previous interviews that their marriage had been on the rocks
before, it's possible it posed a long-term strain on their love life, and they simply
weren't able to work things out.
Their divorce was finalized in 2021 and executed amicably and respectfully, as far as we can
tell.
They agreed to share joint legal custody of their three children, and neither of them
had to pay child support, and the exes kept all of their personal possessions, including
jewelry, clothing, and furniture.
Sarah was able to put the divorce behind her, and it didn't take her long to be swept off
her feet by her Sex/Life co-star, Adam Demos.
For those of you who don't know, the TV series, Sex/Life tells the story of Billie Connelly
- Sarah Shahi's character - who is seemingly happily married with children.
However, Billie begins to reminisce on her old life involving ex-boyfriend Brad - Adam
Demos' character.
Their story quickly unravels as their characters become involved in one of the greatest TV
show love triangles we've ever seen.
Naturally, their steamy scenes together in the show had people fanning themselves.
So when the actors started their real-life romance,
fans became obsessed with them.
In this case, art really does imitate life, and we are here for it!
It all started back in 2020 when Sarah discussed the instant chemistry she felt with Adam when
they first met.
The actress shared that she met Adam in a trailer on the first day on set and described
him as "tall and charismatic and good-looking."
She went on to say, "We did our first scene together and I heard how he said the words
and I was like, 'Oh, now I get why you're Brad.
Like he just owns that mysteriousness.
He owns the darkness, but he's also light at the same time."
The pair often shared behind-the-scenes snaps of them on set together to give fans an insight
into what was to come.
While their chemistry was undeniable on camera, they also looked like a perfectly matched
pair.
Sarah added that she thinks it's hard for an actor to be able to balance lightness and
darkness in character, but that "Adam does it effortlessly.
He is effortlessly cool."
When they wrapped up filming for the show, both actors praised their experience on set.
Demos shared that it was the greatest job experience of his life.
While Shahi expressed that working on the show changed the direction of her life.
She added, "It unleashed parts of my heart I had hidden for so long.
It helped me find my truth."
But it seems that the show did one more thing for the actors … It helped them find true
love.
The pair surprised fans by sharing a snap on social media of them spending New Year's
Eve together in 2020.
While there was no confirmation that they were a couple just yet, it seemed as though
they were getting very cozy.
By January of the following year, Demos made their relationship Instagram official with
an adorable birthday message.
He captioned a photo of the pair apple picking, "Happy bday my baby, I fuckin' love you.
You're everything."
The next month, Sarah returned the loved-up birthday favor and shared an intimate Valentine's
Day post with Adam, referring to him as her 'forever squeeze' with a red heart and #happyvalentinesday.
The same day, Adam also posted a selfie of them with a heart.
Fans went wild knowing that Demos and Shahi were a couple in real life.
In arguably their cutest moment to date, Sarah wrote Adam a love letter alongside a photo,
showing off to the world how much she truly adores him.
She captioned, "Not exactly sure how two people on opposite sides of the world could have
more in common, were meant to meet, were meant to be together.
I do know I found my forever.
I do know I've never loved deeper, harder, more ferociously."
The actress added that she is "overly grateful" for Adam and that she knows that she loved
him "for a thousand lifetimes before" and she "will love him for a thousand lifetimes
more."
Adam gave a seriously sweet response, writing, "My forever and more..
I love you so fucking much my baby."
If that didn't make your heart explode, we honestly don't know what will.
It was clear that these two were completely smitten with each other.
At the same time, fans were so happy that Sarah was able to find love again after her
divorce.
In June later that year, Shahi unveiled a brand new tattoo on her hand via Instagram.
The simple micro-tattoo was the letter A on her hand, which fans immediately believed
to be a tribute to Adam.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Sarah finally confirmed to the public that
the pair were an item and referred to him as 'one of the best humans I've ever met,
but stated that she likes to keep the relationship relatively private.
She joked, "It was great casting, I'll put it that way."
Adding, "Without sharing too many details because there is a part of my relationship
that I protect and that's for me and him only, I'm very grateful that I met him.
I'm grateful to be on this ride in general, but to be able to share it with him is special
as well."
In another interview with People, Shahi shared a little more details about how they first
met.
She explained, "I said, 'Well, that's a tall drink of water.'
When I first met Adam, I was really blown away with him."
She went on to share that they had the exact same taste in music, whiskey, and tequilas.
They had so much in common that she was just "really blown away by him just as a person."
But knowing him was not enough; she knew she wanted more.
The actress expressed how lucky she felt to get the opportunity to act with him, and it
felt like a privilege.
Sarah then gushed over her man, saying that "He's amazing in the show."
In December of 2021, Sarah and Adam made their red carpet debut as a couple.
They appeared at the 47th Annual People's Choice Awards together and didn't shy away
from posing for the cameras, looking totally smitten.
Since then, the couple has been celebrating the show's success — along with the evident
success of their love lives — while taking selfies in front of the enormous Sex/Life
billboard featured in Times Square.
If Sarah and Adam's love story teaches us one thing, it's that it truly is possible
to find true love after a divorce.
Marriage is hard work, and going through a divorce can make falling in love again seem
frightening.
We're glad that Sarah was able to heal her heart and find love again.
We wish her and Adam all the best, and we hope Steve will find the right person for
him one day too!