Modern family actress Ariel Winter has reportedly split from her boyfriend of six years.
The 28-year-old performer called it quits with 31-year-old Luke Benward in August 2025, People claimed on Thursday.
‘They just realized after almost six years that they were better as friends,’ a source told People. Winter and Benward have ‘tons of love still there between them,’ the source added. ‘They are still best friends and share the pups, so everything is really good.’
He has not appeared on her Instagram pages since last year and their last public outing was in July 2025.
The two dramatically moved out of Los Angeles four years ago for a quieter life in Tennessee.
Modern family actress Ariel Winter has reportedly split from her boyfriend of six years
The 28-year-old performer called it quits with 31-year-old Luke Benward in August 2025, People claimed on Thursday. Seen in 2021
Winter frequently praised Benward as her ‘safe space’ and credited their long-term friendship as the foundation for their partnership.
She credited him for helping her through the ‘difficult times’ during the 2020 pandemic.
Winter has also called him her ‘guiding light’ through tough days as she battled stress from fame.
They were friends for years before they began dating in late 2019. She has said going from friends to lovers was the ‘best thing ever.’
Winter has been working on a new Disney project.
She is again voicing the character of Princess Sofia for the new film Sofia The First: Royal Magic.
She’s been the character for a Disney TV show since 2012.
She thanked the creator of Sofia The First, Craig Gerber, in a May 7 Instagram post saying he ‘honored me 15 years ago by casting me as Sofia.’
‘They just realized after almost six years that they were better as friends,’ a source told People Winter still thinks Benward is ‘the best.’ Seen in 2024
In July 2025 Winter talked to the Daily Mail about her difficult early years of fame.
She said she received ‘inappropriate messages from older men’ when she was a child.
The star found fame through her role as Alex Dunphy on the sitcom Modern Family and has revealed how she had to deal with the unwanted attention of ‘male predators’ from an early age.
Speaking to the Daily Mail Winter said: ‘I am familiar with male predators because I worked in Hollywood at a young age. I started at age four. I don’t wanna say too much about it, but by the time I was on a laptop and cell phone, I was getting inappropriate messages from older men, and it caused trauma.’
She added: ‘The experiences I had in person and online as a child have affected me so deeply that I’ve had to go to therapy for it. The movie and TV industry is a dark place.’
Ariel featured for the duration of Modern Family’s 11-season run and admits that she found it difficult to come to terms with show ending in 2020.
Winter frequently praised Benward as her ‘safe space’ and credited their long-term friendship as the foundation for their partnership. Seen in 2021
With the cast of Modern Family at the Emmys in 2014
She said in early 2025: ‘It was hard. We were like a real family. It was weird knowing it would just be over, and I wouldn’t get to see everybody all the time anymore. It was like, wait, yeah, wait, we’re not going to be together on Monday? So on the one hand, I didn’t want it to end, but at the same time, I was ready to start something new as an adult.’
Ariel was just 11 years of age when Modern Family began and she did not suspect that the program would go on to become so popular.
She said: ‘I was 11 when it started. I don’t think I had any idea of it was going to be successful or not. I was just like, ‘Oh awesome, I got a job.’
‘What I was so excited for was to get the chance to work with Al Bundy (Ed O’Neill, who portrayed her grandfather Jay Pritchett in the comedy).
‘But once the show started, it was an immediate hit, and it was so exciting to have that opportunity. And being on the same show for so long? I feel like that doesn’t really happen anymore.’
