Lorenzo Lamas Past Loves: from Michele Cathy Smith to His Latest Public Romance
By Maya Lin-Takahashi
Although Michele Cathy Smith faded from public view after 1985, her genetic and familial imprint resurfaced with volcanic force during the mid-2000s reality boom. Her son, AJ Lamas, stepped into the limelight through daytime television, appearing as Rafael Ortega on As the World Turns, before joining his father on reality broadcasts.
Her daughter, Shayne Lamas, achieved mainstream pop-culture celebrity in 2008 by winning Season 12 of ABC’s The Bachelor, accepting a proposal from British financier Matt Grant. The engagement ended within months, but it served as a launchpad for the E! Network docuseries Leave It to Lamas in 2009. The show placed the complex architecture of the Lamas family on national display:
| Lamas Family Member | Primary Public Platform | Cultural Footprint (1980s, 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Lorenzo Lamas | Falcon Crest, Renegade, Commercial Flight Instruction | Golden Globe nominee, six-time married Hollywood action lead. |
| Michele Cathy Smith | Private civilian life (1985, Present) | Mother of AJ and Shayne; maintained privacy post-divorce. |
| AJ Lamas | As the World Turns, Leave It to Lamas | Daytime drama actor and fashion model. |
| Shayne Lamas | The Bachelor (Season 12 winner), Leave It to Lamas | Reality television personality, entrepreneur, and author. |
Throughout the broadcast run of Leave It to Lamas, Michele Cathy Smith remained noticeably absent from the camera crews’ perimeter. While Lorenzo, his fourth ex-wife Shauna Sand, and his numerous children navigated screaming matches and career negotiations on camera, Smith stayed entirely removed. Her decision to avoid the lucrative reality-TV wave of the 2000s preserved an intentional boundary between her mid-1980s celebrity exposure and her modern domestic privacy.
Maya is a hardware enthusiast who tests and reviews smart home devices, smartphones, wearables, and audio gear. She focuses on practical consumer value and build quality.
