Ariel Winter has been in a long-term relationship with Luke Benward, and it seems like the two are continuing to go as strong as ever. This stands even after she faced public scrutiny in the past few years due to intense online body-shaming, over-s-xualization of her image by the media, and even a pretty public family legal battle.
In an interview with E! News back in October 2024, she candidly confessed what the Modern Family alum felt about her and Benward’s relationship, candidly confessing,
I believe a relationship is more than just love. I believe it’s respect. I believe it’s work. You can’t just love somebody. And I really feel like we have all of those things.
Additionally, she relocated to Los Angeles with her partner after her hit TV series wrapped filming in 2020, and built a life with the Minutemen star and their dogs. So when asked about her future plans with him, she was as optimistic as ever. She said,
I just love him. And whatever the future is for us, it is for us. We got our dog kids, and we love our life.
For those who might not know, Benward is an actor and singer, best known for his Disney Channel roles as Charlie in Minutemen, Ryan in Girl vs. Monster, and Will in Cloud 9. He is also famed for his performance as Dillon in the Pretty Little Liars spin-off Ravenswood, as well as Bo in the Netflix movie Dumplin’.
Why Was Ariel Winter a Public Scrutiny Target?
Ariel Winter in a still from Modern Family. | Credit: ABC.
Back during her Modern Family days, Ariel Winter was widely under public scrutiny as she went through puberty in the public eye. If anything, there were constant and cruel talks about her developing body. She confided to PEOPLE earlier this year, in May, about the experience, saying,
It was just everywhere. 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. I understood what it was like to be hated. No matter what I was going through, I was a target.
In fact, the scrutiny was so severe that she couldn’t even look at herself and think she loved that version of herself. As Winter confessed,
It made it very difficult to look at myself in the mirror and go, ‘I love this version of me.’
However, she was finally able to escape all that after Modern Family wrapped up, as she moved out of L.A. and chose to settle into a quieter, more domestic life, where she has leaned into cooking and being a mom to their six dogs.
Ariel Winter Calls Luke Benward Her Best Friend
Ariel Winter with Luke Benward. | Credits: @arielwinter / IG.
During her interview with E! News, Ariel Winter also shared the secret to her strong relationship with Luke Benward. This is because, at the heart of their six-year romance is their unwavering friendship. She said,
There are so many things that go into a partnership, but I think what I find so important is a ‘best friendship.’ I feel like, if you have that foundation, you really can weather a lot of storms.
Well, with Benward, she certainly seems to share that, considering how the two have been together since 2019, and still continue to go strong. For what it’s worth, it certainly feels like the two will be holding onto each other and acting as each other’s lovers and supporters for a long time.
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