This article briefly discusses allegations of physical and emotional abuse.
Ariel Winter was just 11 when she landed the role of Alex Dunphy on ABC’s hit series Modern Family, which aired from 2009 to 2020.
However, Ariel was much younger when she started acting. Last year, the now-26-year-old recalled being pushed into the spotlight at just 4 years old.
For some context, Ariel was legally emancipated from her parents — Chrisoula “Crystal” Workman and Glenn Workman — at the age of 17, three years after Crystal was publicly accused of physically and emotionally abusing her.
Crystal denied the allegations of abuse, though Ariel’s elder sister, Shanelle Gray, was still able to obtain legal guardianship of her when she was 14.
Last summer, during an appearance on the Fox reality series Stars on Mars, Ariel described her experience of being pushed into acting so young as “rotten.”
“I was 4. You don't really decide anything at 4,” she said.
A couple of years after Modern Family wrapped, Ariel sold her LA home and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, with her boyfriend, Luke Benward.
Speaking about her decision to move away from LA, Ariel told E! News this week that she was initially “nervous” about taking the leap.
“I don't think LA was ever really my vibe, but I just was nervous,” she admitted.
“And then this opportunity presented itself, and I was like, you know what? I'm in a season of change, and I'm really trying to heal and grow and evolve. It's opened up my world a lot,” she added.
This comes over two years after Ariel admitted that she’s never been interested in fame.
“Part of the reason I always hated LA was because I have been followed by paparazzi for a very long portion of my life, and I really, really dislike having my space invaded,” she said on her Quitters podcast in 2022.
“I don't like pictures of me when I haven't signed up for pictures of me. I don't like feeling watched. I've always just wanted to live a very, very normal life, just have a normal existence, and I never really felt like I could do that in LA,” she explained.
“Fame has never been something that I have any interest in… I just wanted to live as normal a life as I could,” she added.
Well, if her wholesome TikTok content is anything to go by, it looks like Ariel is most definitely living her best life in Tennessee.
If you are concerned that a child is experiencing or may be in danger of abuse, you can call or text the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4453(4.A.CHILD); service can be provided in over 140 languages.