Modern Family star Ariel Winter reveals how being body shamed as a child destroyed her mental health

Ariel Winter detailed the agonizing effect that being body shamed as a child had on her mental health while starring as Alex Dunphy on ABC’s hit series, Modern Family.

In a rare interview, since taking a step back from the spotlight, the actress admitted the relentless scrutiny over her body had a profound affect on her mental health.  

‘That was a major part of my teenage years,’ she told People of the online criticism for the way she dresses and being a woman with curves.

The SAG Award winner, 27, went on to describe being bombarded by cruel headlines saying she ‘looked terrible or pregnant or like a fat slut’ 

‘It was just everywhere. It was every headline I read about myself,’ Winter recalled. ‘I mean, I was 14.’

Winter, who was navigating going through puberty in the spotlight, explained , at the time, she ‘was on an antidepressant in high school that caused’ her ‘to gain 30 lbs.’

Ariel Winter detailed the agonizing affect that being body shamed as a child had on her mental health while starring as Alex Dunphy on ABC’s hit series, Modern Family; seen in 2024

‘I couldn’t lose that weight, but I prioritized my mental health over that weight. I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my well-being,’ she said. 

After she got older and tried a different medication, Winter said she ‘happened to lose all that weight’ and was immediately accused of being ‘way too skinny’ or ‘on drugs.’

‘I was just a growing, changing person. It was really, really hard to be torn down constantly,’ the performer emphasized. 

This resulted in her struggling to look at herself in the mirror and ‘love’ herself. 

After years and years of fighting back with body shamers, Winter said she, now, understands that ‘no matter what’ she was going to be ‘a target.’ 

After moving out of her hometown in Los Angeles and going to therapy, she finally feels comfortable in her own skin. 

‘I went on a journey of self-healing,’ Winter said. ‘A big part of it was just realizing you don’t get to redo your childhood. It’s gone. And that hit me so hard.’ 

She continued: ‘I really had to focus all my time on healing that past because now I want my future to be great. I want to have a family of my own, and I have to be healed to the best version of me to be able to pour into being a mom myself someday.’

In a rare interview, since taking a step back from the spotlight, the actress admitted the relentless scrutiny over her body had a profound affect on her mental health

‘Would it be nice if people would shut the f**k up about how I look? Sure. Is it going to happen? No. But do I particularly care anymore? No. I have so many other things that I’m doing that I want people to care about that have nothing to do with the way I look,’ she said. 

Winter, who made her acting debut in a Cool Whip commercial at age four, also stated that she feels grateful not to have fallen into addiction, like many other child stars do. 

‘I’ve been blessed with opportunities and blessed to have the resources to seek healing. I’ve got great people around me and a great second chance, and that’s major,’ she said. 

During her interview with People, Winter also opened up about her decision to move out of her hometown of Los Angeles. 

After her hit series Modern Family wrapped in spring 2020, Winter and her boyfriend Luke Benward packed up and moved out of the city to Nashville, Tennessee. 

‘I just left the city of LA. It holds some not so great memories for me, and I’m young and never lived anywhere else, and thought, “Why not?”‘ 

At 14, the Department of Child and Family Protective Services removed Winter from her home with her mom, Chrisoula Workman, and placed her under the guardianship of her sister, Shanelle Gray.

‘I went on to have a great rest of my teenage years thanks to being under her custody,’ Winter said.  

Three years later, Winter was ‘legally emancipated and declared an adult’ and has ‘since refrained’ from talking to her mom, according to People.