From orphanage in Shanghai to CBS lead: Leah Lewis' life and career highlights explored amid her response to David Del Rio’s 'Matlock' exit

Matlock star Leah Lewis was adopted from an orphanage in China by Fred and Lorraine when she was just 6 months old and was raised in Windermere, Florida. Her younger, non-biologically related sister, Lydia, was also adopted from the same orphanage.

Leah got a start acting in commercials. After moving to Los Angeles with her family, Leah featured in the 2012 Nickelodeon film, Fred 3: Camp Fred, as Spoon. In 2013, she auditioned for the fourth season of The Voice.

In 2015 and 2016, Leah appeared in the Disney shows Best Friend Whenever and Gamer's Guide to Pretty Much Everything. She also appeared as a main character on Season 2 of the Go90 web series, Guidance.

After graduating from high school, Leah moved back to Los Angeles and began booking shows in TV shows like Station 19 and The Good Doctor. She bagged a recurring role in The CW series Charmed and also joined the main cast of Nancy Drew. Soon, Leah had the role of Ellie Chu in the 2020 Netflix film, The Half of It. She also appears as Sarah in CBS's Matlock.

How has Leah Lewis responded to David Del Rio's Matlock exit?

On October 9, multiple news outlets confirmed that David Del Rio had departed the CBS series Matlock after he allegedly sexually assaulted Leah Lewis. As per Deadline, Rio was removed from the set on October 2.

On October 9, Leah took to her Instagram stories to thank the audience for their support,

"Mom is here, we're moving foward in love and strength. I'm in good hands. Thank you to everybody for any kind of support and care. Truly, we're moving forward in strength. Key word, strength. Please let that be the takeway."

As per Deadline, the assault incident occurred on September 26 in Leah Lewis' trailer. The incident was reported to the show's producers on October 2, who, along with CBS, took immediate action.

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The studio conducted an internal investigation, and Del Rio was fired and escorted off the Paramount lot the same day. Matlock executive producer Eric Christian Olsen was among those who escorted Rio off the set.

Following Del Rio's exit, his character, Billy Martinez, will reportedly be written out of the show. Production has resumed on Season 2 of Matlock, which is set to air on October 12. However, the show is reported to enter a pre-planned hiatus next week after wrapping up Season 2 as the creative team takes time to rework scripts.

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