Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised with her three siblings in the Chicago suburbs, Sanchez, who is half Puerto Rican and half French, discovered her interest in acting when she was 13 years old. There was only one small problem - she had a terrible case of stage fright. Luckily, Sanchez eventually convinced herself to participate in a school production of The Grapes of Wrath, which she had to perform in front of all her friends and family. She was cured and the experience made her realize that she truly loved being an actress.

Sanchez left home for the first time in 2000 to audition for MTV's I Want To Be A VJ contest in New York. From the thousands of people who applied, Sanchez was selected as one of the five finalists, but, unfortunately, didn't win the competition. However, her disappointment was quickly forgotten when an agent who had seen her on MTV expressed interested in representing her.

After moving to Los Angeles on her agent's recommendation, Sanchez landed her very first audition. She went on to star in two comedy series, That Was Then and Married to the Kellys, starring opposite Breckin Meyer who played her husband. Related marked Sanchez's first one-hour series.