‘Modern Family’ Star Ariel Winter Reveals She Left Los Angeles for New Life

Modern Family staple Ariel Winter’s rise to stardom was marred with behind-the-scenes childhood trauma. Since the show’s end in 2020, she’s taken hold of her life and is in control.

In a new interview with PEOPLE, the actress spoke candidly about fleeing Los Angeles, despite a budding career, for some solace after years of public scrutiny that added to low self esteem. While she hasn’t given up her love for the craft, her personal peace is what matters the most to her.

Winter recalls growing up in the spotlight and having criticism surrounding her body image and looks. “It was just everywhere,” she said of the constant backlash. “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,” she says. “It totally damaged my self-esteem.”

“I understood what it was like to be hated,” she says. “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.’”

On top of that, she says her mother was abusive. When she was 14, she was taken out of her mother’s care and her older sister became her legal guardian. She remains estranged from her mother. Winter says her sister is her saving grace.

At 18, she was declared emancipated. She now lives with her boyfriend outside of Tinsel Town.

At home, she enjoys cooking and being a mother to six dogs. She’s also involved in a charity centered on childhood grooming and sexual abuse, which she’s hinted to being a victim of in the past but refuses to share too much detail. Acting is still a passion.

“I didn’t leave the industry,” she explains. Winter is producing several projects of her own, as well as starting a podcast and developing a cooking show.