Antonio Sabàto Jr. (born February 29, 1972) is an Italian-born American model and actor. Sabàto first found fame in the 1990s as an underwear model for

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...

and playing

Jagger Cates ''General Hospital'' is the longest-running American television serial drama, airing on ABC. Created by Frank and Doris Hursley, it originally was set it in a general hospital (hence the title), in an unnamed fictional city. In the 1970s, the ...

on the soap opera ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

'' from 1992 to 1995. By the early 2000s, most of his acting credits were guest appearances, reality television, and budget films. Sabàto ran unsuccessfully as the

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate for

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

against incumbent Democratic Congresswoman

Julia Brownley Julia Andrews Brownley (born August 28, 1952) is an American businesswoman and politician who has been the United States representative for California's 26th congressional district since 2013. A Democrat, she served in the California State Assem ...

for California's 26th district in the

2018 elections The following elections are scheduled to occur in 2018. The National Democratic Institute also maintains a calendar of elections around the world. Africa *2018 Djiboutian parliamentary election 23 February 2018 *2018 Sierra Leonean general elect ...

Early life

Sabàto was born in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, Italy on February 29, 1972, a

Leap Day February 29, also known as leap day or leap year day, is a date added to leap years. A leap day is added in various solar calendars (calendars based on the Earth's revolution around the Sun), including the Gregorian calendar standard in mo ...

. His father was

Antonio Sabàto Sr. Antonio Sabàto Sr. (2 April 1943 – 10 January 2021) was an Italian-American film and television actor noted for extensive work in the Italian exploitation genre. He was the father of model and actor Antonio Sabàto Jr. and Simmone Sabàto. Amo ...

, an Italian-born film star. His mother, Yvonne, was born in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

(then part of

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

), and of half

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places *Czech, ...

and half

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

ancestry; her own mother was a Jewish

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

survivor. He has one sibling, a sister named Simonne. Sabàto and his family moved to the United States from Italy in 1985 and he became a

naturalized citizen Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-citizen of a country may acquire citizenship or nationality of that country. It may be done automatically by a statute, i.e., without any effort on the part of the in ...

of the United States in 1996. He received his

high school diploma A high school diploma or high school degree is a North American academic school leaving qualification awarded upon high school graduation. The high school diploma is typically obtained after a course of study lasting four years, from grade 9 to gra ...

from

Palisades Charter High School Palisades Charter High School (usually colloquially known as Pali or Pali High and abbreviated as PCHS) is an independent charter secondary school in Los Angeles, United States. The high school serves the neighborhoods of Pacific Palisades, ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. His parents divorced, and his mother remarried, to

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

-based businessman George F. Kabouchy, in 1997.

Career

Modeling

Sabàto was featured on the cover of erotic magazine ''

Playgirl ''Playgirl'' was an American magazine that featured general interest articles, lifestyle and celebrity news, in addition to nude or semi-nude men. In the 1970s and 1980s, the magazine printed monthly and was marketed mainly to women, although i ...

'' in April 1993. Represented in Los Angeles by fashion agent

Omar Albertto Omar Albertto is a Los Angeles-based agent for the fashion industry, specializing in representing ethnically diverse male models. He was the founder of modeling agency, Omar's Men, which had more than a million dollars of revenue its first year of ...

, Sabàto first gained attention as a

underwear model in 1996. In 1990, he appeared in

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

's "

Love Will Never Do (Without You) "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" is a song by American singer Janet Jackson. Composed by songwriters and record producers Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, it was recorded for the singer's fourth studio album, ''Janet Jackson's Rhythm Nation 1814'' ( ...

" music video along with actor

Djimon Hounsou Djimon Gaston Hounsou (; ; born April 24, 1964) is a Beninese-American actor and model. He began his career appearing in music videos. He made his film debut in '' Without You I'm Nothing'' (1990) and earned widespread recognition for his role as ...

, who is also a former CK underwear model represented by Albertto. In 2013, Sabàto was named the international celebrity spokesperson for

AnastasiaDate AnastasiaDate is an international online dating website that primarily connects men from North America with women from Eastern Europe. History AnastasiaDate was founded in 1993. In the early 1990s when the company first launched, it used ca ...

, an online mail-order bride website which connects wealthy American older men with Eastern European women.

Acting

Moving into acting, from 1992 through 1995 he appeared on the

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

'', the

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

series '' Earth 2'' and the

prime time Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

soap opera ''

Melrose Place ''Melrose Place'' is an American prime time television soap opera that aired on Fox from July 8, 1992, to May 24, 1999, for seven seasons. The show follows the lives of a group of young adults living in an apartment complex on Melrose Place, in ...

''. Throughout the late 1990s, he starred in various TV movies and

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

films, as well as a supporting role in the 1998 feature film ''

The Big Hit ''The Big Hit'' is a 1998 American action comedy film directed by Hong Kong filmmaker Che-Kirk Wong, and stars Mark Wahlberg, Lou Diamond Phillips, Christina Applegate, Bokeem Woodbine, Antonio Sabàto Jr., China Chow, Avery Brooks, Lainie Kazan, ...

''. In 2003, he played the protagonist's lover Pablo in the movie ''

Testosterone Testosterone is the primary sex hormone and anabolic steroid in males. In humans, testosterone plays a key role in the development of Male reproductive system, male reproductive tissues such as testes and prostate, as well as promoting secondar ...

'', filmed in Argentina with Sonia Braga,

David Sutcliffe David Sutcliffe (born June 8, 1969) is a Canadian-American retired actor. He is known for playing Christopher Hayden on the television series ''Gilmore Girls'' and Detective Aidan Black on the television series ''Cracked''. Early life Sutcliffe ...

, Jennifer Coolidge, Celina Font and Leonardo Brezicki. From 2005 to 2006, Sabàto played

Dante Damiano Dante Alighieri (; – 14 September 1321), probably baptized Durante di Alighiero degli Alighieri and often referred to as Dante (, ), was an Italian poet, writer and philosopher. His ''Divine Comedy'', originally called (modern Italian: '' ...

on the daytime soap opera ''The Bold and the Beautiful'', and in 2008, Sabàto reprised his role as

on the second season of '' General Hospital: Night Shift''. Sabàto made an appearance on ''

Bones A bone is a rigid organ that constitutes part of the skeleton in most vertebrate animals. Bones protect the various other organs of the body, produce red and white blood cells, store minerals, provide structure and support for the body, an ...

'' as a bouncer from a Jersey Shore club in season 6, episode 3, "The Maggots in the Meathead" in 2010. In 2013, he played Father Zaragosa in the television series ''

The League ''The League'' is an American sitcom that aired on FX and later FXX from October 29, 2009, to December 9, 2015, for a total of seven seasons. The series, set in Chicago, Illinois, is a semi-improvised comedy show about a fantasy football league ...

''. Sabàto is set to direct, produce and star in an upcoming project called ''Trail Blazers'', which reportedly is the first in the line of other films he hopes to produce for his upcoming film studio called Trail Blazers Pictures. The film costars fellow

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

supporters

Kristy Swanson Kristen Noel Swanson (born December 19, 1969) is an American actress. She is best recognized for having played Buffy Summers in the 1992 film '' Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' and appeared in the 1996 film ''The Phantom''. Her first starring role w ...

Kevin Sorbo Kevin David Sorbo (born September 24, 1958) is an American actor. He had starring roles in two television series: as Hercules in ''Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'', and as Captain Dylan Hunt in '' Andromeda''. Sorbo is also known for acting ...

Dean Cain Dean George Cain ( Tanaka; born July 31, 1966) is an American actor. From 1993 to 1997, he played Clark Kent / Superman in the TV series '' Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman''. Cain was the host of ''Ripley's Believe It or Not!'' and ...

, and

Scott Baio Scott Vincent James Baio (; born September 22, 1960) is an American actor. He is known for playing Chachi Arcola on the sitcom ''Happy Days'' (1977–1984) and its spin-off ''Joanie Loves Chachi'' (1982–1983), the title character on ...

Dancing

In 2016, Sabàto was contracted to be a

Chippendales Chippendales is a touring dance troupe best known for its male striptease performances and for its dancers' distinctive upper body costume of a bow tie, collar, and shirt cuffs worn on an otherwise bare torso. Established in 1979, Chippendale ...

dancer for a special engagement in June at the

Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino The Rio is a hotel and casino near the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada, United States. It is owned by Dreamscape Companies LLC and operated by Caesars Entertainment. It includes a casino and 2,520 suites. It features a Brazilian theme based ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

Reality television

In 2005, Sabàto appeared on '' But Can They Sing?'', a celebrity reality singing competition on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

, coming in 5th place. He competed in the 2008

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

competition '' Celebrity Circus'', which he won. He stated on the show that both his mother and her father were circus performers. In August 2009, Sabàto starred in ''

My Antonio ''My Antonio'' is a reality television show about Antonio Sabàto, Jr. first broadcast on VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Glob ...

'', a reality show on VH1 in which female contestants competed to win his heart. The show notably featured Sabàto's ex-wife, Tully Jensen, as one of the contestants (she came in 3rd place), and his mother also appeared on the show, providing advice. The show's winner was Brooke Barlow. Sabàto and his family appeared on ABC's ''

Celebrity Wife Swap ''Wife Swap'' is an American reality television program that was first broadcast on ABC in 2004 based on the British show with the same name. In the program, two families, usually from different social classes and lifestyles, swap wives/mothers ...

'' on January 31, 2012. His then-fiancé

Cheryl Moana Marie Nunes Cheryl Moana Marie Nunes (born May 17, 1971, in Oregon, U.S.) is a television presenter, former Oakland Raiderette, beauty pageant winner, and musician. Early life Nunes was born on May 17, 1971, in Hillsboro, Oregon. She was named for the John ...

traded places on the show with

WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

wrestler

Mick Foley Michael Francis Foley (born June 7, 1965) is an American actor, author, retired professional wrestler, and color commentator. He is currently signed to WWE under the company's Legends program, acting as a company ambassador. Foley worked for m ...

's wife Colette Foley. Sabàto competed on season 19 of ''

Dancing with the Stars ''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...

'' in 2014. He was paired with professional dancer

Cheryl Burke Cheryl Burke (born May 3, 1984) is an American dancer, model, and television host. She is best known for being a professional dancer on ABC's '' Dancing with the Stars''. She was the first female professional to win the show and the first prof ...

, and they finished in 8th place.

Hosting

Since 2014, Sabàto has served as the host of a 30-minute long syndicated

home remodeling The concept of home improvement, home renovation, or remodeling is the process of renovating or making additions to one's home. Home improvement can consist of projects that upgrade an existing home interior (such as electrical and plumbing), ...

show ''Fix It & Finish It''.

Producing

Sabàto announced that he wants to start a

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood, ...

movie studio geared toward conservative content. The new company is called Trail Blazers Pictures and the studio's first upcoming film, ''Trail Blazers'', is in the works for a release in 2022.

Politics

Sabàto ran for the 26th district Congressional seat in California as a

against incumbent Democrat

. He came in second place in the

jungle primary A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of the political party. Partisan elections are, on the other hand, segregated by political party. ...

with 22.4% of the vote, advancing to face Brownley in the general election. He lost the election on November 6, 2018, by 24%. Regarding

illegal immigration Illegal immigration is the migration of people into a country in violation of the immigration laws of that country or the continued residence without the legal right to live in that country. Illegal immigration tends to be financially upwar ...

, Sabàto said, "There should be no shortcuts for those who don't want to pay or wait". He supported Trump's wall on the southern border, saying, "We need a wall." Sabàto has made many controversial statements regarding former U.S. President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

, including saying he has "no guts," accusing him of destroying the U.S. economy, and asserting that Obama should be arrested and sent to the

Guantanamo Bay detention camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Guant ...

. The former Democrat has also implied that Obama is the reason he left the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

. For several years, Sabàto has maintained that, in his opinion, Obama is not a Christian but a

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

. The first instance of such a claim came in 2016, when Sabàto, after making a speech at the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the United States Republican Party. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal of the Repu ...

, told

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...

"I don't believe he follows the God that I love and the Jesus that I love," and "If you follow his story, if you read his book, if you understand about Obama, I mean, that's not a Christian name, is it?" When pressed for evidence to back up his claims, Sabàto answered that it's "in his heart." Two years later, in 2018, he reaffirmed his belief that Obama is a Muslim when appearing on '' The View'', saying "If he's bama'snot a Muslim, we should call him President Barry," and claimed that "What I was saying was, he changed his name to Obama because he followed the

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

religion when he was growing up so, I felt that once you're in that religion, you stay for the rest of your life." Sabàto endorsed

for president in 2016. He spoke at the

2016 Republican National Convention The 2016 Republican National Convention, in which delegates of the United States Republican Party chose the party's nominees for president and vice president in the 2016 U.S. presidential election, was held July 18–21, 2016, at Quicken Lo ...

in support of the party's presumptive nominee. Sabàto claimed that after he expressed his support for Trump, he was

blacklisted Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist (or black list) of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list. If someone is on a blacklist, t ...

from

. He later compared his struggle to find work in

show business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produc ...

with that of being Jewish during

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

and said celebrities mocked him on the social media website

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 ...

Personal life

Sabàto was married to Tully Jensen from 1992 until 1993. He married

in 2012. The two separated in December 2016 and their divorce was finalized in June 2018. After Sabàto filed for divorce, Nunes alleged that Sabàto was abusing prescription drugs and had failed to complete even one month of a three-month-long drug rehabilitation program. Sabàto said that he was addicted to prescription

sleep aids Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder in which people have trouble sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, ...

, not

benzodiazepine Benzodiazepines (BZD, BDZ, BZs), sometimes called "benzos", are a class of depressant drugs whose core chemical structure is the fusion of a benzene ring and a diazepine ring. They are prescribed to treat conditions such as anxiety disorders, ...

s as Nunes claimed, but admitted that he had a problem with

substance abuse Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, is the use of a drug in amounts or by methods which are harmful to the individual or others. It is a form of substance-related disorder. Differing definitions of drug abuse are used in public health, ...

in the past, specifically

crystal meth Methamphetamine (contracted from ) is a potent central nervous system (CNS) stimulant that is mainly used as a recreational drug and less commonly as a second-line treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and obesity. Methamphe ...

. Sabàto has three children: a son with

Virginia Madsen Virginia Gayle Madsen (born September 11, 1961) is an American actress and film producer. She made her film debut in ''Class'' (1983), which was filmed in her native Chicago. After she moved to Los Angeles, director David Lynch cast her as Pri ...

, a daughter with Kristin Rossetti Biasi, and a son with Nunes. Sabàto is a

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

but has, on several occasions, said that he also identifies as being

. Sabàto had testosterone pellets injected into his buttocks as a treatment for low levels of testosterone. Sabàto has several tattoos, including the

Batman Batman is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger, and debuted in Detective Comics 27, the 27th issue of the comic book ''Detective Comics'' on ...

logo on his lower back and the yin yang symbol surrounded by Chinese characters on his arm. In a December 2018 tweet, Sabàto stated that he and his family were in the process of moving out of

to an undisclosed state, citing his frustration with the state's

progressive Progressive may refer to: Politics * Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform ** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context * Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...

policies as the primary reason. In March 2020, Sabàto moved to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

, and now works for a construction company.

Filmography

References

External links

* *
SoapCentral.com: Sabato profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sabato, Antonio Jr. 1972 births Living people 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male actors 20th-century Italian Jews 20th-century Italian male actors 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American politicians 21st-century Italian Jews 21st-century Italian male actors 21st-century Italian politicians American actor-politicians American Christians American male judoka American male models American male soap opera actors American male television actors American people of Czech descent American people of Czech-Jewish descent American people of Italian descent American practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu California Republicans Candidates in the 2018 United States elections Florida Republicans Italian Christians Italian emigrants to the United States Italian expatriates in the United States Italian male judoka Italian male models Italian male television actors Italian people of Czech descent Italian people of Jewish descent Italian practitioners of Brazilian jiu-jitsu Male actors from California Male actors from Rome Male models from California Models from Rome Participants in American reality television series People with acquired American citizenship Politicians from Rome