Shahi and Howey first crossed paths in 2004 when the "Fairly Legal" actor guest-starred on an episode of "Reba." It's unclear exactly when they started dating, however, the couple got engaged in Hawaii in June 2007 and eventually tied the knot in Las Vegas in February 2009.
In July 2009, Shahi and Howey welcomed their first child, William Wolf, and six years later, they expanded their family again by welcoming twins Violet Moon and Knox Blue in March 2015. The "Shameless" actor opened up about raising three kids with Shahi in a December 2018 interview with CBS. "Anyone that says parenting is not hard is not doing it right. I don't see my friends anymore. I don't see my immediate family as much as I should. What my kids are teaching me is utter patience," he said before joking, "I don't really call it patience — I call it no murder."
Howey also praised Shahi's parenting skills by telling the publication, "My wife, Sarah, is the hero. Three kids — and starring in a TV series? That woman is a warrior!"
When asked how he and Shahi made their relationship work as two actors, Howey said it all came down to the couple trying to keep their life as "normal" as possible. "Life comes with a lot of, you know, ups and downs, but you go through it. That's my attitude. And being married to a [fellow] actor is so great because we understand each other's challenges," he said. "It's not easy in this business — you go to work where you're used to ordering beverages through a walkie-talkie at your whim, then you've got to go home and do the dishes. We live a life with many dualities, but in the chaos we make sure to keep a lot of normality in our family. Sarah and I — that'll be forever. It's epic."
In June 2020, Us Weekly reported that Shahi had filed for divorce from Howey earlier that May. "After much thought and consideration, we have decided to end our marriage," the pair said in a joint statement at the time. "We are so grateful for the past 10 years together and proud of our children that we've raised. As we enter into this new phase of our lives, our priority will remain co-parenting our children with so much love, mutual respect and friendship. And though our relationship is changing, we are committed to continuing our lives as a loving family."
Their divorce was finalized in April 2021, per Us Weekly.