Heather Locklear’s daughter Ava Sambora, 25, seen on graduation day EXCLUSIVE

Ava Sambora looked just like her Hollywood star mom Heather Locklear on her graduation day from the University of Southern California last week.

DailyMail.com has obtained the exclusive photos of the 25-year-old Los Angeles native as she received her master’s degree from the revered university.

The graduate is the daughter of Melrose Place actress Heather Locklear and former Bon Jovi rocker Richie Sambora.

Ava beamed with pride as she wore her cap and sash that read Class of 2023 as she posed on the picturesque campus. The blonde shared that she received her degree in marriage and family therapy from USC.

Her mother, who attended the graduation ceremony, wrote on Instagram: “Such a proud mama. Congratulations my baby, on your masters in MFT. With your hard work and perseverance and good listening.’

The photographer was Mc Kenna Bryn.

The Los Angeles native explained in her caption that accompanied photos of her at USC.

“Today I’m graduating from USC with a Master of Science in Marriage and Family Therapy!” began Sambora’s note shared Friday.

“I am beyond grateful for the past two years and all the wonderful people I have met along the way. Cheers to the Class of 2023!”

Ava wore a light gray satin mini dress that showed off her legs while wearing nude strappy heels.

The star also had a red and yellow Class of 2023 sash in place and her black cap on. In another image, she wore her black dress while sitting in a field next to mature trees while on the Los Angeles campus.

USC costs about $64,000 per year.

The blonde beauty is a dead ringer for her famous mom Heather.

She shares Ava with her second husband, Bon Jovi lead guitarist Richie Sambora, to whom she was married from 1994 to 2007.

In February, Heather shared a rare selfie on Instagram.

The 61-year-old Hollywood veteran actress – who starred in Dynasty, TJ Hooker and Melrose Place – was spotted in winter clothes standing in front of a mirror.

The blonde beauty – who came out of a rough patch in 2019 – looked slim when she was seen in a gym, hinting that she is working out a lot.

In her caption, the pinup was having some fun.

“Finally figuring out how to take pictures. Can we go back to Polaroids where I look 70 years younger?’ noted the siren.

Her Melrose Place co-star, Daphne Zuniga, said, “Where’s the Kodak?! But you [heart eyed emoji.’

And another co-star, Marcia Cross, said, ‘Here here’ as she added heart emojis.

Her longtime friend, TV host Jillian Barberie, added, ‘So beautiful!!!”

Heather had on an ivory colored sweater, beige scarf and beige sneakers with black leggings that showed off her toned shape.

Locklear was memorably on TV’s Melrose Place from 1993 until 1999. She also popped back on the new version of the show from 2009 until 2010. 

She was also known for her marriages – she was wed to Pamela Anderson’s ex, Tommy Lee, as well as Sambora.   

This comes after she had a rough patch as she went in and out of rebab in 2018 and 2019; the star appears to be much better these days and more stable.

It was reported in 2021 that Heather ‘couldn’t be happier’ with her fiancé Chris Heisser, with sources saying the couple are ‘in a really good place’ as they take their relationship to the next level.

An insider said: ‘Heather and Chris are in a really good place right now. They couldn’t be happier. They each go out of their way to make the other feel special – she’ll cook for him, he’ll buy her flowers, etc.’

The star and her fiancé are high school sweethearts, and their romance dates back to the 70s, although they fell out of touch and only reunited in 2017.

For Heather, the upcoming wedding will be her third.

In 2021 she said that she was ‘fearful’ of her return to television.

The actress appeared as Kristine Carlson in the made-for-TV film Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: The Kristine Carlson Story – which is based on the book series by Kristine and her husband Dr. Richard Carlson – and she was apprehensive about her first small screen role in four years.

‘The challenging part of it was so fearful for me,’ she said while speaking to reporters during Lifetime’s Fall Movies press event.

One emotional scene which sees Kristine learning her husband – played by Jason MacDonald – has died was shot on the second day of filming.

Heather turned to Kristine herself to help research the powerful moment, and added: ‘She said, “It’s almost like a child dying.” And that stopped me in my tracks.’

Although the star wasn’t sure if she’d be able to hit the right emotional level the scene called for, she settled and ‘felt very safe’.

And while Heather had other concerns about remembering her lines after a few years away, she found it ‘so easy’ to get back into old habits.

She told People: ‘I don’t know why I was so fearful of memorizing lines, how about getting emotion across.’