Sabrina Jalees (born April 19, 1985) is a Canadian comedian, actress, and writer. She has written for various series, and starred as a main cast member alongside
Patricia Heaton
Patricia Helen Heaton (born March 4, 1958) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her work on sitcoms, having played Debra Barone on ''Everybody Loves Raymond'' (1996–2005) as well as Frances "Frankie" Heck on '' The Middl ...
in the 2019 TV comedy series ''
Carol's Second Act
''Carol's Second Act'' is an American television sitcom created by Emily Halpern and Sarah Haskins, which premiered on September 26, 2019 on CBS. It stars Patricia Heaton along with Ito Aghayere, Lucas Neff, Jean-Luc Bilodeau, Sabrina Jalees, Ash ...
.''
Early life and education
The daughter of a
Swiss
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
* Swiss, Missouri
* Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
* Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
*Swiss Internation ...
mother and a
Pakistani father, she graduated from
Earl Haig Secondary School
Earl Haig Secondary School (EHSS), formerly Earl Haig Collegiate Institute is a public high school with 2,048 students in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In addition to being a public secondary school, the school is also host to the Claude Watson Art ...
, and later from the Radio and Television Arts program at
Toronto Metropolitan University
Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...
in June 2007.
Career
Jalees wrote a weekly column in the ''
Toronto Star
The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part ...
''
's ID section.
She has made many Canadian media appearances, including as a commentator on
MuchMusic
Much (an abbreviation for its full name MuchMusic) is a Canadian English language specialty channel owned by BCE Inc. through its Bell Media subsidiary that airs programming aimed at teenagers and young adults.
MuchMusic launched on August 31 ...
's ''
Video on Trial'', ''
Stars On Trial'' and ''
LOL!'', as well as a role in the drama series ''
Flashpoint'', and
Jian Ghomeshi
Jian Ghomeshi (born June 9, 1967) is a British-born Persian-Canadian broadcaster, writer, musician, producer and former CBC personality. From 1990 to 2000, he was a vocalist and drummer in the Thornhill-based folk-pop band Moxy Früvous. In ...
's Monday correspondent on
CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of Ca ...
's ''
Sounds Like Canada in the Summer''. She also previously filed a regular segment on ''
Go''. She is a former host (until 2010) of ''
Laugh Out Loud
LOL, or lol, is an initialism for laughing out loud and a popular element of Internet slang. It was first used almost exclusively on Usenet, but has since become widespread in other forms of computer-mediated communication and even face-to ...
'' on
CBC Radio One
CBC Radio One is the English-language news and information radio network of the publicly owned Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It is commercial-free and offers local and national programming. It is available on AM and FM to 98 percent of Ca ...
and a
reality TV
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
show for children, ''
In Real Life'', airing on
YTV. She made a cameo in the video for the song ''Break This'' by
Hunter Valentine
Hunter Valentine is an alternative rock band formed in 2004 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Hunter Valentine have a moderate fan base in southern Ontario.
History
The current members of Hunter Valentine are Kiyomi McCloskey, Laura Petracca, Lean ...
. She narrates the
CBBC
CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...
series ''
Rank the Prank
Rank the Prank is a hidden camera game show show began on CBBC starting on 3 September 2016. In Canada it began on BBC Kids on 30 January 2017. A first look was released on 18 July 2016. It also premiered on Nickelodeon in the United States on ...
''.
She was a writer for ''
Canada's Got Talent
''Canada's Got Talent'' is a Canadian television reality talent show, which debuted on the Citytv network on March 4, 2012. It is part of the global ''Got Talent'' franchise.
As with other series in the franchise, the show is a competition i ...
''
and ''
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock''.
In 2020, she appeared in an episode of ''
Canada's Drag Race
''Canada's Drag Race'' is a Canadian reality competition television series based on the American series ''RuPaul's Drag Race'' and is the Canadian edition of the ''Drag Race'' franchise, produced by Blue Ant Studios. In a similar format to th ...
'', as co-judge of a mini-challenge in the episode "The Snow Ball".
In 2021, she was announced as one of the judges in the upcoming first season of ''
Roast Battle Canada
''Roast Battle Canada'' is a Canadian television comedy series, which premiered on CTV Comedy Channel in October 2021. An adaptation of the American series '' Jeff Ross Presents Roast Battle'', the series presents battles in which pairs of comedi ...
''. In 2023 she debuted as host of ''
Farming for Love''.
Personal life
Jalees came out as a
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
and was shunned by her extended Muslim family, an experience she relates in her 2013 Canadian comedy tour, "Brownlisted."
Her wife, Shauna McCann, is a fashion designer. They have a son named Wolfie.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jalees, Sabrina
1985 births
Living people
Actresses from Toronto
Canadian columnists
Canadian actresses of Pakistani descent
Canadian people of Swiss descent
Canadian sketch comedians
Canadian stand-up comedians
Canadian women comedians
Canadian television actresses
Toronto Metropolitan University alumni
CBC Radio hosts
Comedians from Toronto
Canadian lesbian actresses
Canadian LGBT broadcasters
Lesbian comedians
Pakistani LGBT people
Canadian women radio hosts
Canadian women columnists
21st-century Canadian comedians
Canadian LGBT comedians
21st-century Canadian LGBT people
Canadian television hosts