Why Did Ariel Winter Leave Hollywood After “Modern Family”? Inside Her Life After Moving Out of Los Angeles

Caroline BlairFri, May 15, 2026 at 10:30 AM UTC

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Ariel Winter on 'Modern Family'; Ariel Winter on September 05, 2025 in Los Angeles, California.
Credit: Tony Rivetti/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty; Amanda Edwards/Getty -

Ariel Winter left her hometown of Los Angeles after Modern Family came to an end in 2020

The child star struggled with online hate and a complicated childhood

Winter has clarified that she hasn't given up acting and has pursued various roles — including in the Sofia the First franchise

Ariel Winter became an iconic child actor when she starred on Modern Family from 2009 to 2020.

Unlike some of her costars, Winter had been acting for much of her life — since she was 4 years old. The Screen Actors Guild Award winner, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, decided to move out of the city after getting sick of the uglier side of being a child star.

“It was just everywhere," she told PEOPLE in May 2025 of the negativity. "It was every headline I read about myself, like, grown people writing articles about me saying how I looked terrible or pregnant or like a fat slut. I mean, I was 14. It totally damaged my self-esteem."

In order to find herself again, Winter moved to a town in Tennessee to focus on her other ventures — including her love of cooking and passion for fighting against online sexual predators — with her dogs and her then-boyfriend, Luke Benward. The actors dated for six years and lived together with their dogs before splitting in August 2025, a source told PEOPLE in May 2026.

Although Winter moved out of L.A., she has continued to act. Since 2012, Winter has voiced the lead in the Sofia the First franchise. The newest installment, Royal Magic, premieres on May 25.

Here's everything to know about why Ariel Winter left Hollywood and where she is now.

What was Ariel Winter's role in Modern Family?

Nolan Gould, Ariel Winter, Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen and Sarah Hyland on Modern Family.
Credit: Robert Ashcroft via Getty

Winter played the beloved middle child Alex Dunphy on the hit sitcom Modern Family from 2009 to 2020. She was just 11 years old when she stepped into the role of the booksmart and anxious preteen.

She starred in the role alongside her on-screen siblings, Sarah Hyland and Nolan Gould, and parents, Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell.

"Honestly, it's so amazing to have a job like this with people you've worked with for 11 years, that you love,” Winter said on The Ellen DeGeneres Show ahead of the series finale. “The amount of grateful that we all are is ridiculous. It's special."

What did Winter act in after Modern Family?

Ariel Winter attends the special screening for "Don't Log Off" on July 12, 2025 in Glendale, California.
Credit: Unique Nicole/Getty

Before Winter parted ways with Alex Dunphy, she scored the voice role of Sofia in the hit Disney animated franchise Sofia the First.

Since the original film, Sofia the First: Once Upon a Princess, premiered in 2012, she continued lending her voice and has acted in several additional television movies.

When Modern Family wrapped in 2020, Winter took a three-year hiatus from acting. She returned to the screen in various voice roles in TV shows and movies — such as Star Trek: Lower Decksand The Sisters Grimm.

Why did Winter leave Hollywood?

Winter left the hustle and bustle of L.A. around the time that Modern Family wrapped in 2020. While the child star has kept exact details of her move private, she previously opened up to PEOPLE about leaving the city with her then-boyfriend, Benward, to both escape the online hatred and a difficult childhood.

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“I understood what it was like to be hated," she said in May 2025. "No matter what I was going through, I was a target. It made it very difficult to look at myself in the mirror and go, ‘I love this version of me.' "

Winter had also publicly endured a tumultuous relationship with her mother, Chrisoula Workman, whom she previously accused of abuse. Workman has denied the allegations. When Winter was 14 years old, she was placed in the care of her older sister and three years later, she was legally emancipated.

“I went on to have a great rest of my teenage years thanks to being under her custody,” Winter said of her older sister. “Honestly, it's just my entire childhood. It's a really deep, painful, sore, sore part for me that's so much deeper and bigger than I've ever felt ready to talk about.”

Winter further explained to E! News in 2024 that she didn't "think L.A. was ever really my vibe, but I just was nervous."

“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," she continued of the move to Tennessee. "It's opened up my world a lot."

Has Winter returned to Hollywood?

Ariel Winter at the 4th Annual Legacy Ball on October 5, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.
Credit: Christine Bartolucci/Variety via Getty

Although Winter left L.A., she's made it clear that she didn't quit acting.

“I didn't leave the industry,” she told PEOPLE. “I just left the city of L.A. It holds some not-great memories for me, and I'm young and never lived anywhere else, and thought, ‘Why not?' If you're no longer on a network show that shoots there, you don't really have to be there, and if I get a network show, I can easily go back.' "

Winter noted that she still loves acting and has also taken an interest in producing her own projects.

Where is Winter now?

Ariel Winter in May 2026.
Credit: Ariel Winter/Instagram

As of May 2026, Winter has been busy promoting the Sofia the First series Sofia the First: Royal Magic, which comes to Disney+ on May 25.

In addition to voice acting, Winter has leaned into her love of cooking and frequently posts social media videos of her favorite recipes. As for future projects, Winter told PEOPLE in 2025 that she hopes to launch a podcast and develop her own cooking show.

Another one of Winter's passion projects is working with the organization SOSA (Safe From Online Sex Abuse) — which included helping make season 4 of the YouTube series "Operation Witching Hour."

“I was just like, ‘God, I'd love to be a part of that.' It just impacted me so deeply because I'd been that kid who'd been preyed upon online so many times," she explained. “More than anything, I want my story to be that she uses her platform for good. My journey to figuring things out and healing is now through helping other people. That's all I care about.”

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”