Meet High Potential star Steve Howey’s famous actress ex-wife who starred in fan-favorite Netflix series

Steve Howey and ex-wife Sarah Shahi were together for almost two decades before calling it quits.

The former couple met, naturally, on set, when the Sex/Life actress guest starred in an episode of Reba, in which the High Potential actor starred as Van, opposite titular character Reba McEntire.

Read on for more on Sarah and Steve’s former marriage, their kids together, and what led to their divorce.

Sarah and Steve’s love story

Sarah and Steve started dating shortly after she appeared in an episode of Reba in 2003, and they got engaged in Hawai’i in June 2007.

Sarah, whose full name is Aahoo Jahansouzshahi, was born in Euless, Texas in 1980, to Persian parents. Her mom Mahmonir Soroushazar was born in Spain to an Iranian father and a Spanish mother, while her father, Abbas Jahansouzshahi, was born in Iran, and worked at the American Embassy in the country, ultimately fleeing two years before the Iranian Revolution of 1979.

They tied the knot in Las Vegas in February 2009, and five months later, they welcomed their first child together, son William Wolf, who is now 16 years old.

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Six years later, in March 2015, they expanded their family with the addition of twins, daughter Violet Moon and son Knox Blue, who are 11 years old, Violet being the older of the two. Sarah gave birth both times at home, as Steve told People, after watching the documentary The Business of Being Born: “You have more control during a home birth and with hospital births, there is a system in place and we didn’t like the whole system. [Sarah] did not like the idea of being injected with stuff and having a c-section.”

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Their split

Sarah and Steve announced their split in June 2020, having separated that spring. They told Us Weekly at the time: “After much thought and consideration, we have decided to end our marriage,” adding: “We are so grateful for the past 10 years together and proud of our children that we’ve raised. 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. And though our relationship is changing, we are committed to continuing our lives as a loving family.”

In the years leading up to their divorce, Steve was candid about the difficulties of balancing both of their careers while sustaining their marriage and parenting duties. In 2016, during an interview with Talk Nerdy With Us, he said that he and his then-wife’s busy schedules “almost broke us up,” explaining that “all our time was for each other” before kids, but once kids came into the picture, while they both were still working, “if there was any energy left [in the day] it was for the kids and not for each other.”

“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 said during an interview with CBS’ Watch! Magazine, though he added: “What my kids are teaching me is utter patience. I don’t really call it patience — I call it no murder. But my wife, Sarah, is the hero. Three kids — and starring in a TV series? That woman is a warrior.”

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Sarah’s comments on the split

Sarah, who is known for her roles in Person of Interest, Black Adam, and more recently Sex/Life and Paradise, shared on the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast that it was her character in Sex/Life that inspired her to divorce.

“You know, divorce is never something that happens overnight, but [Billie] definitely was — she pushed it for sure,” she said. “I gathered strength in her, unlike any character I had ever played, you know, and it was just such an interesting moment in my life where the stars took over in a way that was really divine.”

“I felt like I was being possessed by this character, Billie, and I was finally having the guts to say and do all the things that I wanted to do for years before,” she added.