Sarah Shahi may have never played a character like Billie prior to starring in Netflix's "Sex/Life," but it turns out they have a lot in common. In the hit series, Shahi plays a suburban mom who's stuck in a complicated love triangle between her husband, Cooper (Mike Vogel), and ex-boyfriend Brad (Adam Demos). In addition to the fact that Shahi and Demos are now a real-life couple, Shahi previously told Us Weekly [1] that she "found a lot about Billie" that she could relate to.
"I'm a mother of three incredible children myself and having been in a long-term relationship in the past, I often found myself questioning some of the things that Billie was questioning — her desire for sort of this sexual freedom and liberation that she was feeling," Shahi told the outlet.
Before her relationship with Demos, Shahi was married to fellow actor Steve Howey from 2009 to 2021. They share three children, a son named William and twins Violet and Knox. "I used to have these wants and desires, but I think we sometimes put those on hold in order to fulfill the roles that society tells us to — be a wife, be a mom or what that looks like," Shahi explained.
For the most part, Shahi prefers to keep her family life out of the spotlight, but here's everything she's shared about her kids over the years.
William Wolf Howey
Shahi welcomed her first child, William Wolf, with ex-husband Steve on July 8, 2009. The actor's rep confirmed William's arrival to Celebrity Baby Blog (via People [3]) stating that William weighed in at 8 lbs., 6 oz, and measured 21 inches in length.
Of her parental instincts, Shahi previously told BabyCouture magazine (via People [4]) that she immediately felt like a mom "the moment the stick turned blue." Shahi added, "Something in you just switches. You definitely don't come first anymore."
Steve also told People that they chose Wolf for William's middle name because they "wanted to go with an animal name."
Twins Violet Moon and Knox Blue Howey
Shahi and Steve welcomed twins Violet Moon and Knox Blue at their Los Angeles home on March 1, 2015. "I never thought I would be one of those wacky chicks who say, 'I loved my labor,' but I loved every part of it. It was the best day of my life," Shahi told People [5] at the time.
Of Violet's name, Steve told the publication, "Moon is the English translation of Sarah's mom's name. [We] were going to name her Moon, but we decided that was better as a middle name. We liked Ruby and Olive — we liked colors for a girl — and then I came up with Violet."
As for Knox's name, Steve called the moniker "old timey." He added, "Names are tough because one person loves it and another person hates it, but these kids were not going to be named Steve or Michael or anything like that."
In a rare Instagram post [6] in August 2018, Shahi opened up about her experience with breastfeeding her twin babies. "Ok so I'm an incredibly private person when it comes to sharing pics of my children. But so many women have shared their breastfeeding pics in order to spread a bigger and wiser message of the importance of breastfeeding and the wonders of women's bodies!!" she began. "And some doctors are actually encouraging women NOT to breastfeed in the beginning, which sounds criminal to me for someone to advocate. Shame on you...."
She continued: "So here's me right after my twins were born. I did this for 11.5 months, while filming #poi( pumped throughout the day, Spilling milk occasionally on a PA- 😐 sorry, and fed them all throughout the night) and though it was physically and emotionally so taxing, I'm so glad I did. Not to mention how impressed I was with even my own body at this point. So here we are- the 3 of us celebrating #worldbreastfeedingweek so mother's — pull 'em out and babies- bottom's up!!"
More Pictures of Sarah Shahi and Steve Howey's Kids
