When Sex/Life premiered on Netflix in June 2021, the sexy drama became an instant hit with 67 million households watching in just the first four weeks of its release. So it’s no surprise then that Sex/Life star and mother of three — Sarah Shahi — was recognized at her kids school.
She told POPSUGAR that the fame became so overwhelming that she would have to wear a disguise when picking her kids up from school. Shahi, 43, also noted that parents at the school couldn’t seem to separate her actual self from her character on the show — a bored housewife who longs for adventure named Billie Connelly — looking to Shahi for love and sex advice.
“My kids’ elementary school, I became notorious over there,” Shahi joked. “And I had to disguise myself for a bit because I became the poster child for unhappily married women. And so there was a lineup. I was like Dr. Ruth at 7-year-olds’s birthday parties, just giving out love and relationship advice.”
Shahi shares three kids — son William, 13, and twins Violet and Knox, 8 — with ex-husband Steve Howey. The two divorced in January 2021, and Shahi has been in a relationship with her Sex/Life costar and love interest on the show, Adam Demos, since 2020.
However jarring the fame might still be for Shahi, she is still “grateful” for every “beautiful” interaction she has with a fan who connected with the show and her character who happens to have a lot of sex.
The second season of Sex/Life hit Netflix on Thursday, and this second installment seems just as spicy than the first.
Shahi spoke to Today about some of the intimate scenes that surprised her, and a few she was really proud of, including a conversation-starting scene when a woman has sex late into her pregnancy.
“Pregnant women should have sex. Pregnant women are very horny!” she exclaimed.
“These statements are true. But as a rule, society is told to shut those voices off. Those are not supposed to be for public knowledge. But we shouldn’t be afraid to go after our desires.”
Season 2 of Sex/Life is streaming now on Netflix.
