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‘Modern Family’ Child Star’s Painful Past Resurfaces As She Battles Online Predators
Modern Family star Ariel Winter went through a difficult childhood, as criticism of her appearance online and in the press made her feel “hated” as a child star.
She made the major decision to leave Los Angeles shortly after the ABC series wrapped its final season in April 2020 and moved to Nashville, Tennessee, with her boyfriend, Luke Benward.
Highlights
- ‘Modern Family’ star Ariel Winter moved out of Los Angeles in 2020, and the reason behind the decision was distressing.
- Winter had allegedly experienced ill-treatment from her mother and had to be removed from her care when she was 14.
- She has been working with a nonprofit organization that catches online predators through planned-out undercover operations.
Winter, now 28, played the smart and capable Alex, middle child of Phil and Claire Dunphy, on the show for 11 seasons from 2009 to 2020.
In May 2025, the actress revealed the unpleasant reason she changed cities, which recently resurfaced ahead of her upcoming Disney revival series, Sofia the First: Royal Magic.
“There is no excuse for talking about a child that way,” one user had reacted at the time to Winter’s revelation.
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Ariel Winter admitted she left Los Angeles because of “not-great memories”
Image credits: Christine Bartolucci/Variety via Getty Images
Ariel Winter confessed she faced harsh public criticism during her time on Modern Family, especially about her body as she grew up and changed through her teens.
“It was just everywhere,” she told People magazine in 2025. “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 sl*t. I mean, I was 14. It totally damaged my self-esteem.”
“I understood what it was like to be hated,” she added. “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.’”
Image credits: Stefanie Keenan/WireImage
The endless public scrutiny, along with a tumultuous relationship with her mother, Chrisoula Workman, whom she accused of ab*se, created a grim childhood for Winter in L.A. She admitted that she shifted to move away from those memories, but did not think of quitting the entertainment industry.
“I just left the city of L.A.,” she clarified. “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.”
Image credits: arielwinter
Winter has continued to work in television, films, and video games, although a majority of her projects have been voice acting. She also creates cooking show-style content on her social media from time to time, and once chopped off the tip of her thumb while at it.
Ariel Winter has been working with a nonprofit organization that helps catch online predators
Image credits: arielwinter
Winter started working with an organization called SOSA (Safe From Online S*x A*use) sometime in 2023 after coming across the nonprofit group on the Max TV show UndercoverUnderage, which follows its mission.
SOSA assists local law enforcement in identifying and apprehending online predators with the help of women who present as young decoys and reel the perpetrators in via sting operations.
On May 15, 2024, Winter posted photos of her first undercover mission for SOSA.
Image credits: peacock
“I have been that victim on the internet and in person SO many times, and now that I am older and have nieces that age, it hit me how much something NEEDED to be done,” she wrote, adding that she was a donor, volunteer, and member of their advisory board.
A year later, Winter explained her reason for joining SOSA in an interview with People magazine.
“They’re an amazing organization. They fight child s*x trafficking online, which is usually the precursor to in-person trafficking,” she said.
Image credits: peacock
“The show just impacted me deeply because I was that kid so many times over that was preyed upon in person online,” Winter said. “I was just like, God, I would love to be able to help be a part of that. I don’t want to say there’s a solution, but I would love to help take some of these people off the streets.”
“It’s nerve-racking,” Winter said about being part of the sting operations. “We build decoy rooms in case the [perp] wants to see our rooms; we have personas. It’s very serious.”
Authorities had to remove Ariel Winter from her mother’s custody
Image credits: arielwinter
In 2012, just a year after Ariel Winter was cast as Alex Dunphy, Child Protective Services had to remove her from her home. She was placed in the care of her adult older sister, Shanelle Workman-Gray, who had filed to become Winter’s guardian after accusing their mother of physical and emotional ab*se.
In 2013, their brother, Jimmy Workman, petitioned to remove her from Shanelle’s care, calling her an “unfit guardian” for Winter. Speaking on behalf of Chrisoula to dispute the accusations leveled at her, Jimmy also accused Shanelle of exploiting Winter and her money.
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In 2014, before the case could go to trial, the parties reached an agreement, and the judge ruled that Winter could continue living with her sister.
Chrisoula denied all allegations throughout. Glenn Workman, Winter’s father, was appointed to manage her finances and required to submit timely reports to the court until Winter was legally emancipated in 2015, when she was 17.
“I went on to have a great rest of my teenage years thanks to being under [sister’s] custody,” Winter told People magazine in 2025. She also revealed that she has refrained from speaking to her mother.
Online rumors claimed that Winter’s TV mom Julie Bowen, who played Claire Dunphy on Modern Family, helped her through the difficult time. Bowen also helped Sarah Hyland, who played Alex’s older sister Haley, through an ab*sive relationship.
“She went through too much.” The internet showered support as Ariel Winter’s painful past resurfaced
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