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

Philippine The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

overall talent show broadcast on

GMA Network GMA Network (an acronym of its legal name, Global Media Arts and commonly known as GMA) is a Television in the Philippines, Philippine commercial broadcast network, serving as the flagship property of publicly traded GMA Network (company), ...

. Lahbati declared StarStruck V's Ultimate Female Survivors after nine weeks of the competition. Together with Steven Silva, 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 ( , ; ) ; ; . is the second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the capital of the Republic and Ca ...

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 (; Chavacano: ''Provincia de Cavite''), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province of the Philippines located in the Calabarzon region. On the southern shores of Manila Bay and southwest of Manila, i ...

Career

Lahbati made her screen debut as

Bong Revilla Ramon Bautista Bong Revilla Jr. (; born Jose Mari Mortel Bautista; September 25, 1966) is a Filipino actor, director, producer, television presenter and politician serving as a Senate of the Philippines, senator since 2019, and previously from ...

'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 ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

'' StarStruck'', Lahbati topbilled

's drama series, '' Kokak'' (2011) and '' Makapiling Kang Muli'' (2012) along with her real-life partner

Richard Gutierrez Richard Kristian Gutierrez (born January 21, 1984) is a Filipino actor. He is regarded as the original "''Fantaserye King''" for top billing multiple hit television series. Gutierrez is a recipient of a FAMAS Award and three PMPC Star Awards fo ...

. 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'' and '' Sunday All Stars'' as a regular artist. In 2015, Lahbati transferred to the rival network,

ABS-CBN ABS-CBN is a leading Philippine media and content company. It serves as the flagship media brand of ABS-CBN Corporation, a subsidiary of Lopez Holdings Corporation. Once the country's largest free-to-air television network, ABS-CBN has since ...

, after her contract under

GMA Artist Center Sparkle (stylized in all caps, formerly known as GMA Artist Center, also formally as GMA Talent Development and Management Department and Sparkle GMA Artist Center) is the talent agency owned by GMA Network Inc. based in Quezon City, Philippin ...

expired. She officially joined Viva Artists Agency 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'', starring

Toni Gonzaga Celestine Cruz Gonzaga-Soriano (born January 20, 1984), professionally known as Toni Gonzaga, is a Filipino media personality, host, actress, businesswoman, singer and vlogger. Gonzaga was the former lead host of ABS-CBN's long-running reality ...

Piolo Pascual Piolo Jose Nonato Pascual (, born January 12, 1977) is a Filipino actor, model, singer, television host, comedian and film producer. Pascual began a career in 1993 after landing a bit role in the film ''The Vizconde Massacre Story (God Help ...

Jolina Magdangal Maria Jolina Perez Magdangal (; born November 6, 1978) is a Filipino singer, actress and television personality. Often referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Philippine Pop Culture", she is credited for heavily inf ...

and

Sam Milby Samuel Lloyd Milby (born May 23, 1984) is a Filipino actor, model and musician. He came to prominence after joining the first edition of '' Pinoy Big Brother''. Biography Samuel Lloyd Milby was born on May 23, 1984 in Troy, Ohio, USA to parent ...

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

Darna Darna () is a superhero appearing in Philippine comics, Filipino comic books created by writer Mars Ravelo and artist Nestor Redondo. The character was introduced during the Golden Age of Comic Books, debuting in ''Pilipino Komiks'' #77 on May ...

'' released by

Star Cinema ABS-CBN Film Productions, Inc., trade name, doing business as Star Cinema and also known as ABS-CBN Films (since 2018), is a Philippines, Philippine film studio, film, television production company, production and distribution (marketing), di ...

and Reality Entertainment. Lahbati appears in E! Philippines

''It Takes Gutz To Be a Gutierrez''. She is currently working as supporting actress in ABS-CBN playing extra and minor projects.

Personal life

On March 14, 2020, Lahbati married actor

Taguig Taguig (), officially the City of Taguig (), is the List of cities in the Philippines, fifth-most populous city in the Philippines situated on the eastern shores of Metro Manila, the national capital region. It is a center for culture, finance ...

. They have two sons together, Zion (born April 29, 2013) and Kai (born March 21, 2018). Lahbati confirmed on March 1, 2024, that she and Gutierrez were separated but stated that they are

coparenting Co-parenting involves parents who together take on the socialization, care, and upbringing of children for whom they share equal responsibility. The co-parent relationship differs from an intimate relationship between adults in that it focuses so ...

their sons, Zion and Kai. In January 2025, Gutierrez said that they were seeking an annulment.

Lawsuit

In late 2012, Lahbati used her

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

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 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". 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 in May 2013 at the age of 19.FULL TRANSCRIPT: ‘Kapuso Mo, Jessica Soho’ interview with Richard Gutierrez, Sarah Lahbati and baby Zion
GMA News Online (20 June 2014). Retrieved on 24 March 2025.

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 (company) people ABS-CBN people Viva Artists Agency Filipino television actresses Swiss people of Filipino descent Swiss people of Moroccan descent

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and 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 pious woma ...

People from Geneva