Sarah Lahbati (born 9 October 1993) is a Swiss-born Filipino actress and reality star. She gained media attention as a finalist on the 5th season of reality show '' StarStruck'', a

Philippine The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

overall talent show broadcast on

GMA Network GMA Network (Global Media Arts or simply GMA) is a Philippine free-to-air television and radio network. It is the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network, Inc. Its first broadcast on television was on October 29, 1961. GMA Network (f ...

. Lahbati declared StarStruck V's Ultimate Female Survivors after nine weeks of the competition. Together with

Steven Silva Steven Joseph Silva (born November 27, 1986 in Oceanside, California) is a Filipino people, Filipino-American people, American footballer from Team Socceroo FC in the United Football League (Philippines), UFL Second Division. He is also an actor, ...

, they each won P1.5 million cash prize and an exclusive contract with GMA Network, with a minimum guarantee of P3.5 million.

Early life and education

Lahbati was born in

Geneva, Switzerland Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

to a Filipina mother and a Moroccan father. She began her studies in Switzerland before moving to the Philippines, where she studied at the Immaculate Conception Academy in

Cavite Cavite, officially the Province of Cavite ( tl, Lalawigan ng Kabite; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region in Luzon. Located on the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest ...

Career

Lahbati made her screen debut as

Bong Revilla Ramon Bautista Bong Revilla Jr. (; born Jose Mari Bautista; September 25, 1966) and commonly known as Bong Revilla, is a Filipino actor, television presenter and politician serving as a Senator since 2019, and previously from 2004 to 2016. The ...

's daughter in '' Hokus Pokus''. After joining and winning the fifth season of hit

reality show 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 ...

'' StarStruck'', Lahbati topbilled

's drama series, ''

Kokak ''Kokak'' (International title: '' The Frog Princess'') is a Philippine television drama fantasy series broadcast by GMA Network. The series is based on a comics serial of the same title created by Ruben Marcelino and published in ''Darna Komiks ...

'' (2011) and ''

Makapiling Kang Muli ''Makapiling Kang Muli'' (International title: ''Together Again'' / ) is a 2012 Philippine television drama romance series broadcast by GMA Network. Directed by Ricky Davao, it stars Richard Gutierrez and Carla Abellana. It premiered on June 4, ...

'' (2012) along with her real-life partner

Richard Gutierrez Richard Kristian Gutierrez (born January 21, 1984), known professionally as Richard Gutierrez, is a Filipino actor, environmentalist and model. He is one of the sons of actor Eddie Gutierrez. Early life Richard Gutierrez was born on January ...

. She also starred in different GMA shows such as '' Love Bug Presents: Exchange of Hearts (2011)'', '' Little Star'', '' Koreana'' and '' Time of My Life''. She also performed in GMA Network's variety show ''

Party Pilipinas ''Party Pilipinas'' () is a Philippine television variety show broadcast by GMA Network. Hosted by Regine Velasquez, Ogie Alcasid, Jaya and Janno Gibbs, it premiered on March 28, 2010 replacing ''SOP''. The show concluded on May 19, 2013 with a ...

'' and ''

Sunday All Stars ''Sunday All Stars'' is a Philippine television variety show broadcast by GMA Network. It premiered on June 16, 2013 on the network's Sunday afternoon line up replacing ''Party Pilipinas''. The show concluded on August 2, 2015 with a total of 10 ...

'' as a regular artist. In 2015, Lahbati transferred to the rival network,

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN (an initialism of its two predecessors' names, Alto Broadcasting System and Chronicle Broadcasting Network) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast broadcast network, network tha ...

, after her contract under

GMA Artist Center Sparkle (formerly GMA Artist Center, also known as Sparkle GMA Artist Center and GMA Talent Management and Development Department) is the talent agency owned by GMA Network Inc. based in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines that was founded i ...

finished. She officially joined

Viva Artists Agency Viva Communications Inc., formerly known as Viva Entertainment Inc. and simply Viva, is a Philippine media and entertainment company headquartered in Pasig City. It was founded on November 11, 1981, by Vic del Rosario and his sister Tess Cruz. ...

in June 2015. Tagged as Dance Goddess, Lahbati is a regular performer on ABS-CBN's Sunday variety show, '' ASAP.'' Lahbati was cast in the ABS-CBN soap opera, ''

Written in Our Stars This is a list of programs broadcast by ABS-CBN, a Philippine television network. The network is headquartered in ABS-CBN Broadcasting Center, Diliman, Quezon City. On May 5, 2020, ABS-CBN was issued a cease-and-desist order by the National ...

'', starring

Toni Gonzaga Celestine Cruz Gonzaga-Soriano (; born January 20, 1984), better known as Toni Gonzaga, is a Filipino singer, host, actress, producer, vlogger and entrepreneur. She is the former lead host of long-running reality show, ''Pinoy Big Brother''. To ...

Piolo Pascual Piolo Jose Nonato Pascual (, born January 12, 1977) is a Filipino film and television actor, singer, model, and producer. Early life Piolo Jose Nonato Pascual was born on January 12, 1977, in Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center located in Malate ...

Jolina Magdangal Maria Jolina Perez Magdangal-Escueta (; born November 6, 1978) is a Filipina singer, actress, television presenter, and entrepreneur. She is referred to in the Philippines as the Queen of Pinoy Popular Culture (or simply as Pop Icon) and is ...

and

Sam Milby Samuel Lloyd Milby (; born May 23, 1984) is a Filipino American, Filipino-American actor, musician, guitarist, model, recording artist, and businessman. In 2005, Milby decided to seriously pursue a career in show business and modeling. Biograph ...

which started early 2017. In 2017, she was also cast as Valentina, the Goddess of Snakes, in the movie ''

Darna Darna () is a Filipina superheroine created by writer Mars Ravelo and artist Nestor Redondo. The character's first appearance was in ''Pilipino Komiks'' (Ace Publications, Inc.) #77 on May 13, 1950. Darna is a retooling of Ravelo's earlier cha ...

'' released by

Star Cinema ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc. (doing business as Star Cinema or ABS-CBN Films) is a Philippines, Filipino film studio and film and television production company and film distributor headquartered in Quezon City. It is one of the major film ...

and

Reality Entertainment Reality Entertainment is a Philippine production company founded and managed by the Filipino filmmaker Erik Matti and his producing partner Dondon Monteverde (son of the film producer Lily Monteverde). Filmography References

Film pr ...

. Lahbati appears in E! Philippines

''It Takes Gutz To Be a Gutierrez''.

Personal life

On March 14, 2020, Lahbati married actor

Taguig Taguig (), officially the City of Taguig ( fil, Lungsod ng Taguig), is a 1st class highly urbanized city in Metro Manila, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 886,722 people. Located in the northwestern shores of ...

. They have two sons together, Zion (born April 29, 2013) and Kai (born March 21, 2018).

Lawsuit

In late 2012, Lahbati used her

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

account to express her dissatisfaction with her network, GMA and expressed her desire to be released from her contract. On January 10, 2013, GMA Network and

GMA Films GMA Pictures, formerly Cinemax Studios and GMA Films, is a film and television production company in the Philippines, established by GMA Network in 1995. Its films include ''Jose Rizal'', '' Muro Ami'', and '' Deathrow''. Filmography Histor ...

president, Annette Gozon-Abrogar, counter-sued Lahbati, and on the following day, January 11, 2013, the network filed a formal complaint against Sarah Lahbati for breach of contract. She was facing multiple charges. In a related article published in PEP last 9 January 2013, Felipe Gozon, the head of GMA Network, released a statement indicating he did not guarantee protection that Sarah Lahbati said she was due. A few days later, Lahbati left the Philippines for Switzerland "to study".Sarah Lahbati evades cases by fleeing the country
Entertainment.inquirer.net (15 January 2013). Retrieved on 17 July 2013. In August 2013, Lahbati returned to the Philippines to face the charges against her. It was later revealed that Lahbati left for Switzerland to give birth to her son with Richard Gutierrez that May 2013 at the age of 19.

Filmography

Television

Film

Awards and nominations

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lahbati, Sarah 1993 births Living people Filipino child actresses Filipino film actresses Filipino people of Moroccan descent Participants in Philippine reality television series StarStruck (Philippine TV series) winners GMA Network personalities ABS-CBN personalities Viva Artists Agency Filipino television actresses Swiss people of Filipino descent Swiss people of Moroccan descent

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch and prophetess, a major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a piou ...