Karla Mosley has spent her career in soap operas, and is now helping to lead the first Black-led daytime soap, Beyond The Gates.
Premiering on CBS on February 24, 2025, Beyond the Gates is set in one the most affluent African American counties in the United States, just outside of Washington DC, and “at the center of this community are the Duprees, a powerful and prestigious multi-generational family” who have “juicy secrets and scandals waiting to be uncovered”.
Karla stars as Dani Dupree, the daughter of matriarch Anita Dupree (Tamara Tunie) and her husband Vernon Dupree (Clifton Davis); Dani discovers early on in the soap that her ex-husband had an affair with her daughter’s best friend.
But off-screen, Karla has a more settled life, and one she says is worlds away from her character.
Former marriage to lawyer
© Getty ImagesKarla, 43, was previously married to NYC lawyer, Jeremiah Frei-Pearson, whom she met at summer camp. They wed in 2011 but are now divorced, and little is known about their split.
However, she moved on and found love with partner John Rogers, and the pair have welcomed two children together.
© Karla MosleyMom to two
On August 17, 2018, she gave birth to her first child, daughter Aurora.
“Seems the word is trickling out. Welcome Aurora Imani! Mom and dad couldn’t be more proud of you. (Born at home on 8/17 at 12:29a. 8 lbs 1oz, 22 inches. Already posing.) She brings the Light, she walks with Faith,” Karla captioned a sweet Instagram post at the time.
In 2021 Karla and John welcomed their second daughter, Willa.
“Our sweet water babe, Willa Josephine. Born on 7/18 into water in her amniotic sac. We are in awe of her and having a blast getting to know her. Thanks for blessing us, dear one,” posted Karla.
She gave birth to both of her children in water pools in her home, and told People of the “power” she discovered was in her once she became a mom: “I think that life and the change that happens in a woman when she becomes a mother and realizes that power – I had both of my kids upstairs in a pool. So it’s like once you go through that two times, you’re like, ‘Oh I have some strength I didn’t know I had.'”
Lasting romance
In December 2024 Karla honored John’s role in their life on his birthday and their anniversary, writing: “Cheers to you, all the versions of you. We absolutely adore you. And we believe in you and everything you do to make this world a better place.”
She often praises John, writing in August 2024 that she had spent “a long stretch without my loves” but that “the joy in their eyes says it all”.
© Karla Mosley“I am grateful for love. I cling to it in the darkest of times. Love is where peace lives,” she added.
Child star
Before she joined the world of soaps, Karla performed in Sugar Beats, a children’s rock group, and then in college she was a member of the American version of Hi-5, a program known for educational content where Karla taught viewers the importance of stretching, exercising and funny dancing.
© Getty ImagesIn 2008 she joined the cast of Guiding Light, and in 2013 she moved to CBS daytime soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful as an ex-con turned actress, Maya Avant, who it was later revealed was a transgender woman; Maya became the first transgender bride to be married on daytime television.
LGBTQ Love
Karla left the show in 2020 and has since spoken about her role, admitting that the time she “was going to say no because it felt inappropriate for me to play that role as a cis woman”.
© CBSHowever, she acknowledged that if she did not accept the story, “this story won’t be told”.
Karla also used the interview to come out as queer, sharing: “I do identify as queer, but I’m not transgender,.”
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