As a child star, Ariel was robbed of the childhood that she rightly deserved. On top of it, she had a manipulative mother who abused her emotionally and physically, until she took control of her life.
Editor's note: This article was originally published on April 27, 2020. It has since been updated.
Not everyone is lucky enough to have a mom who loves and cares for them. Some people are unlucky to be born to toxic mothers, who only know how to manipulate, blame, and make gains out of you. Some children are unfortunate enough to lose their childhood because of their mother's actions. One such individual is a former child star who played the role of a sweet, smart, and funny girl on the hit sitcom Modern Family but in reality, her life was far from perfect.
Ariel Winter, who is known for playing Alex Dunphy in the hit sitcom, which aired its series finale on April 8, 2020, and as Sofia in a cartoon TV series Sofia The First, has been working for years when she should have been a normal child. Instead, she had a lonely and tense childhood because of her mother, Chrystal Workman.
"There wasn't a lot of connection with a lot of people [during my childhood] because I wasn't allowed to have them," she told LaPalme Magazine, as per Insider. "I spent the first 14 years of my life in isolation and it wasn't great. I definitely had an interesting family dynamic when I was growing up. It was mostly my mom and I, and we didn't have a fantastic relationship," she explained. Her dad, Glenn Workman is estranged from her mother and hadn't lived with them in some time.
She was already a busy actress at the age of 10 when she was a part of was the 2008 film Speed Racer. She played the part of young Trixie. By the age of 11, she landed her Modern Family role, according to Hollywood Life. But, it wasn't enough that she was working; her mother also put her on a strict diet, forced her to go to late-night parties, and did worse. "[My mother would dress me in] the smallest miniskirts, sailor suits, low-cut things, the shortest dresses you've ever seen. People thought I was 24 when I was 12. If there was going to be a nude scene when I was that age, my mother would have a thousand percent said yes," said Winter, as per Insider.
When Winter's on-set teacher Sharon Sacks saw how strict her diet was, she was concerned and started sharing food with the child actress.
Her relationship with the rest of her family had been strained because of her mother's negative influence, she said in 2017. Five years before being able to talk openly about her difficult childhood, she took a hard decision that changed her life for the good. Winter got a restraining order against her mother and moved out of the house at the age of 14, as per PEOPLE. The Modern Family actress had claimed she suffered "ongoing physical abuse (slapping, hitting, pushing) and emotional abuse (vile name-calling, personal insults about minor and minor’s weight, attempts to ‘sexualize’ minor, deprivation of food, etc.) for an extended period of time."
Workman had denied the claims and still continues to do so, even though Winter was granted emancipation. She then moved in with her older sister, Shanelle Gray, who was also a child actress once. "I moved in with my sister when I was 14 and lived with her till [sic] I was 18. I did all the real high school things. That was amazing, that was so much fun," she said, as per Insider. "I kind of caught up on the childhood I didn't have because I was focusing on acting and work and everything that was leading up to this point. I missed out on a lot of the normal kid things."
For Winter, it took leaving her mother's negative influence to have a real relationship with her father. "When I was younger, we all suffered from the negative effects of my mother. We all kind of separated a little, and everyone was trying to deal with it in their own way," she said, according to Insider.
"My dad and I were around each other when I was younger, but once I turned 14 and everything that happened with me moving in with my sister, I reconnected with my dad, and we became extremely close. We hang out around four times a week and talk and text all the time. He's a great friend and good person, and I'm very lucky to have him in my life," she said.
When Winter was 19, her mother resumed attacking her and this time by publicly trying to humiliate her over her choice of clothes. She got called out by Winter for spreading lies. "What's sad is that you lie consistently," Winter wrote on Twitter. "Also, why is it that you only choose to talk to me through the press? I'm doing just fine. Toxic."
Winter says that she has learned to love her body after struggling for years and now she only wants to look good for herself. She hated her body after receiving online hate and wanted to change her body.
So, she took control and made a decision to help herself by getting breast reduction surgery to fix the physical strain and body-image issues. She feels confident in herself now but that too is a process. It took her a while but now, she says, "I've had an incredible life, and I'm living life the way I want to. I'm making my decisions and enjoying my life."
Now that Modern Family has ended, she intends to continue acting. "Work!!!! I’m excited to explore new characters as a young woman instead of the awkward child you see here,” she said
References:
https://www.insider.com/ariel-winter-estranged-mom-lost-childhood-2017-10
https://hollywoodlife.com/feature/ariel-winter-now-then-transformation-modern-family-photos-3996233/
https://www.insider.com/ariel-winter-reveals-she-felt-oversexualized-by-mom-2017-9
https://twitter.com/arielwinter1/status/872589875098173441?
Source: Getty Images | Photo by (L) Michael Buckner, (R) Rich Fury
