Antonio Sabàto Jr.

Antonio Sabàto Jr. (born February 29, 1972) is an American actor and model. Born in Italy and raised in the United States, Sabàto first became known as a Calvin Klein model and for his role on the soap opera General Hospital. He has continued appearing in films and television series throughout the 1990s and 2000s.

He has appeared and competed in a number of reality television shows, including My Antonio in 2009, in which various women competed to become his girlfriend.

Youth

Sabàto was born in Rome, Italy. His mother, Yvonne Kabouchy, is a realtor born in Prague (in the former Czechoslovakia), and his father, Antonio Sabàto Sr., is an Italian actor born in Montelepre, Province of Palermo, Sicily, Italy.^[1][2] His maternal grandfather was a Czech aristocrat, and his maternal grandmother was Jewish and survived the Holocaust.^[3][4] Sabàto's family moved to the United States when he was 13, in 1985.^[3] He attended St. Bernard High School (Los Angeles, California), before transferring to Beverly Hills High School in Beverly Hills, California. Sabàto became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1996.^[5]

Career

Modeling

Represented in Los Angeles by esteemed fashion agent, Omar Albertto,^[6] Sabàto first gained attention as a Calvin Klein underwear model. In 1990 he appeared in Janet Jackson's "Love Will Never Do (Without You)" music video along with actor Djimon Hounsou, who is also a former CK underwear model (and also represented by Albertto).

Acting

Moving into acting, from 1992 through 1995 he appeared on the soap opera General Hospital, the science fiction series Earth 2 and on the prime time soap opera Melrose Place.

Throughout the late 1990s, he starred in various TV movies and direct-to-video films, as well as a supporting role in the 1998 feature film.

In 2003 he played the protagonist's lover Pablo in the movie Testosterone filmed in Argentina with Sonia Braga, David Sutcliffe, Jennifer Coolidge, Celina Font and Leonardo Brezicki.

From 2005 to 2006, Sabàto played Dante Damiano on the daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, and in 2008, Sabàto reprised his role of Jagger Cates on the second season of General Hospital: Night Shift.^[7]

Sabàto made an appearance on Bones as a bouncer from a Jersey Shore club in season 6, episode 3, "The Maggots in the Meathead" in 2010.^[8]

In 2013 he played Father Zaragosa in the television series The League.

Reality television

In 2005, Sabàto appeared on But Can They Sing?, a celebrity reality singing competition on VH1, coming in 5th place.

He competed in the 2008 NBC competition Celebrity Circus, which he won. He noted during the show that both his mother and his mother's father had been circus performers.^[9]

In August 2009, Sabàto starred in My Antonio, 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.^[10]

Sabàto and his family appeared on ABC's Celebrity Wife Swap on January 31, 2012. His then-fiance Cheryl Moana Marie Nunes traded places on the show with WWE wrestler Mick Foley's wife, Colette Foley.

Sabàto competed on season 19 of Dancing with the Stars in 2014. He was paired with professional dancer Cheryl Burke,^[11] and they finished in 8th place.^[12]

Hosting

Starting in September 2014, he has served as the host of the syndicated home remodeling show Fix It and Finish It.^[13]

Politics

Endorsement of Donald Trump

Sabàto endorsed Donald Trump for president in 2016.^[14] He spoke at the 2016 Republican National Convention in support of the party's presumptive nominee.^[15]

After his endorsement, Sabàto had reported that he was blacklisted from Hollywood.^[16] In an interview with Variety, he stated that he was mocked on Twitter by other celebrities and that he claimed that the industry donates millions to both Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama.^[17] After addressing the Republican National Convention, Sabàto told ABC News that he believes that President Barack Obama is a Muslim,^[18][19] saying, "We had a Muslim president for seven and a half years."^[20]

Views on illegal immigration

Regarding illegal immigration, Sabàto has said, "There should be no shortcuts for those who don't want to pay or wait".^[21]

Endorsements

On May 13, 2013, Sabàto was named the international celebrity spokesperson for AnastasiaDate.^[22]

Personal life

Sabàto was in a relationship with Alicia Tully Jensen from May 16, 1992 to July 1993.^[23] He has a son, Jack Antonio (born August 6, 1994), from his relationship with actress Virginia Madsen and a daughter, Mina Bree (born August 29, 2002), with longtime girlfriend Kristin Rossetti (2000–07). He briefly dated Brooke Barlow, who won his 2009 dating competition show My Antonio, between the time the show finished taping and when it aired.^[10] In May 2011, Sabato Jr. announced that he and Cheryl Moana Marie had welcomed a son, Antonio Kalani (meaning “a beloved gift from the heavens") Harvey Sabàto III.^[24][25] Sabato Jr. and Marie were married in Kauai on September 25, 2012.^[25]

Film and television appearances

• Fuga da Kayenta (1991) as Emiliano
• General Hospital as Jagger Cates (1992–1994, 1995)
• Moment of Truth: Why My Daughter? (1993) as A.J. Treece
• Jailbreakers (1994) as Tony
• Earth 2 as Alonzo Solace (1994–1995)
• Melrose Place as Jack Parezi (1995)
• Her Hidden Truth as Det. Matt Samoni (1995)
• If Looks Could Kill as John Hawkins (1996)
• Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman as Earl Gregg, aka Bob Stanford, aka Deathstroke in the episode "Bob and Carol and Lois and Clark" (1996)
• Code Name: Wolverine as Harry Gordini aka Wolverine (1996)
• High Voltage (1997)
• The Big Hit as Vince (1998)
• Ally McBeal as Kevin Wyatt (1999; Episode 221, "The Green Monster")
• Fatal Error (1999) as Dr. Nick Baldwin
• Tribe as Jack Osborne (1999)
• Guilty as Charged (Base II) as Sgt. Hawks (2000)
• Charmed 2 Episodes - Season 2 "Ms. Hellfire" & "Give Me A Sign" as Bane Jessup (2000)
• Shark Hunter as Spencer Northcut
• Hypersonic (2002) as Grant Irvine
• Flavor of Love as himself (2006; Season 1)
• The Chaos Factor as Jack Poynt (2000)
• The Outer Limits as Chad Warner in the episode "Skin Deep" (2000)
• Testosterone as Pablo Alesandro (2003)
• Bugs (2003) as Matt Pollack
• The Help as Dwayne (2004)
• Deadly Skies as Donovan (2005)
• Crash Landing as Major John Masters (2005)
• The Bold and the Beautiful as Dante Damiano (2005–2006)
• Destination: Infestation as Ethan Hart (2007)
• Reckless Behavior: Caught on Tape as Greg Vlasi (2007)
• Ghost Voyage as Michael (2008)
• Celebrity Circus as himself (2008)
• General Hospital: Night Shift as Jagger Cates (2008)
• Ugly Betty as himself (2009)
• My Antonio as himself (2009)
• Drifter: Henry Lee Lucas as notorious serial killer, Henry Lee Lucas (2009)
• Scrubs as Antonio (Episode Titled "Our Drunk Friend"-2009)
• Princess of Mars as John Carter (2009)
• CSI: NY as Davi Santos (2010)
• Rizzoli & Isles as Jorge
• The Arrangement as himself (2010)
• Hot in Cleveland (1 episode — Dancing Queens) as Palo, the GBF (Gay Best Friend) of Victoria Chase (2011)
• Secrets From Her Past as Shawn (2011)
• Celebrity Wife Swap as himself (2012)
• The Three Stooges as Bobby Farrelly (2012)
• Hell's Kitchen as himself (2013)
• Baby Daddy as Gerard (2013)
• The League as Father Zaragosa (2013)
• Dancing with the Stars as himself/contestant (2014).
• Fix It and Finish It (2014–present) as himself

See also

• List of male underwear models

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Antonio Sabàto, Jr..

• Official website
• Antonio Sabàto Jr. at the Internet Movie Database
• SoapCentral.com: Sabato profile