Cristina Sanz, who charmed viewers across all four seasons of the A&E docuseries “Born This Way,” died July 6 after suffering a sudden cardiac arrest, her family said. She was 36.
Her family shared the news in an Instagram statement July 8. Sanz collapsed while attending her day program and was rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors fought to stabilize her heart but their efforts were not enough.
“She suffered a sudden cardiac arrest while at her Day Program and was rushed to the hospital,” her family wrote. “Despite the doctors’ best efforts to stabilize her heart, she did not survive.”
Though the loss came without warning, the family said they took comfort in one thing: they were there when it mattered most. The family described her death as a total shock and unexpected, adding that they would forever treasure her life and carry with them the “Cristina moments” she gave them.
A Groundbreaking Series and a Beloved Cast Member
Sanz was one of seven adults living with Down syndrome whose lives anchored “Born This Way,” which ran on A&E from 2015 to 2019. The series followed its cast through work, friendships, love and family, presenting their stories with warmth rather than spectacle. It became a critical success, winning the Emmy for Outstanding Unstructured Reality Program in 2016.
The network mourned her publicly in the days after her death. A spokesperson said the company was deeply saddened by Sanz’s passing and extended sympathies to her family and everyone who had worked with her.
Fans first met Sanz when the show premiered in December 2015. Over the seasons, they watched her chase a career and build a life with her longtime boyfriend, Angel Callahan. The couple had been dating for nearly five years by the time cameras began documenting their relationship, and their bond became one of the series’ most tender threads.
A Love Story Told on Screen
Viewers were with Sanz and Callahan through some of their most personal milestones. At the close of Season 1, Callahan proposed during a romantic dinner, a moment that unfolded in front of the show’s audience. The couple later honeymooned in Spain, where Sanz’s family is from.
Their wedding became a centerpiece of the series. Sanz and Callahan married in a “Beauty and the Beast”-themed ceremony featured in the Season 4 finale, which premiered in September 2018. The cast of “Born This Way” turned out for the celebration, with some members serving in the wedding party.
The marriage did not last. Sanz and Callahan parted ways in 2021. The couple cited the strain of their confinement during the Covid-19 pandemic as a major factor in their split.
Brushes With Stardom
Her time on television opened doors to encounters she treasured. Sanz met Alicia Keys on the set of “The Voice,” and she crossed paths with Jamie Lee Curtis at the 2016 Emmys, the same night “Born This Way” claimed its award. That connection stayed with her.
When Curtis won an Oscar in 2023 for “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” Sanz celebrated as if it were her own victory. Recalling the Emmys, she wrote that Curtis had been the first person to give the cast a standing ovation when they won.
That enthusiasm — generous, unguarded, quick to lift up others — was the quality that drew so many to Sanz during her years on television. Her family’s tribute suggested it was the same quality that defined her away from the cameras, in the everyday “Cristina moments” they now hold close.