‘Modern Family’ Star Ariel Winter Recaps Being Body Shamed by Fans at Age 13

Modern Family actress Ariel Winter became a big star at a young age, and she gave fans a recap of the cruel body-shaming she endured at just 13 years old. Winter played Alex Dunphy on the hit ABC sitcom from 2009 until it ended in 2020, and over that time she had to read, and hear about, countless rude comments about her body. She recently recalled some of what she had to live through while appearing on Red Table Talk: The Estefans.

“I got called a fat slut when I was 13. That was rough,” she shared. “Because I gained weight and my body changed, I had to wear different outfits and I wore a dress that had a cutout here [pointing to her chest]. And the headlines were dark. ‘Fat slut’ was rough for me, and it continued.” Sadly, Winter went on to explain that many of the negative comments she faced were from Modern Family viewers themselves. “It was the fans, some of them – we have lovely, lovely fans, but some of them were also hard on me in the way they loved Alex Dunphy,” she explained. “And because I wasn’t Alex Dunphy and didn’t look like Alex, I didn’t want to dress like Alex… I was just different in that way. I’m not my character.”

Winter continued, “From them, they’re like, ‘How did you go from Alex Dunphy to being, like, a whore? You’re trying to be sexy, you’re 13, you’re a horrible role model. What are you showing people? You got so fat on TV, now you look so fat.’” This unnecessary and blatantly meanspirited toxic fan-behavior Winter was forced to suffer led to mental and emotional trauma that had a lasting impact on her. 

“I got on antidepressants. I gained 30 lbs.” Winter shared. “It was rough going to school, it was rough online, on my Instagram it was like, flooding comments, flooding comments. And so then I was like, ‘They hate this about me, I need to work on it. I need to be thinner, I need to change my hair here, my cheeks look weird. If I change these things about me, the things they hate about me, I’m not going to get that anymore. I’m going to get praised.’”

Finally, Winter explained that she continues to work on her mental health, but is doing better now. “I’m definitely still on a journey,” she said. “I’ve been in therapy twice a week for years. I love my therapist. I love my time in therapy.”