Ariel Winter grew up on our TV screens with her starring role in the widely popular American sitcom Modern Family.
The fame and glory that came with her role as Alex Dunphy in all 11 seasons of the hit show was accompanied by endless scrutiny from the press and online trolls.
In a new interview with People, the now 27-year-old has recalled bearing the brunt of constant criticism about her looks over the years.
“It was just everywhere,” she told the publication.
READ MORE: Kylie Jenner and Timothée Chalamet finally make their red carpet debut
“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 s–t. I mean, I was 14.”
Most teenagers have a hard time with their body image as they grow up. Doing so under the watchful eye of millions made it even more challenging for Winter.
“It totally damaged my self-esteem,” she said.
READ MORE: Liam Payne left $50m fortune without making a will
Even though she was only 22 years old when Modern Family wrapped, Winter says she became accustomed to online trolls.
“I understood what it was like to be hated,” she said.
“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’.”
For a daily dose of 9honey, subscribe to our newsletter here.
After wrapping Modern Family, Winter and her boyfriend Luke Benward made the decision to move out of LA.
It wasn’t a move to leave her career, she told the publication, noting that she is still pursuing acting as well as dipping her toes in producing and podcasting, but rather to find greener pastures.
“I didn’t leave the industry. I just left the city of LA. It holds some not-great memories for me and I’m young and never lived anywhere else, and thought, ‘Why not?’ If you’re no longer on a network show that shoots there, you don’t really have to be there, and if I get a network show, I can easily go back.”
Earlier this year, Winter revealed that her decision to leave Hollywood was essential for her wellbeing.
“People that go away for college and have to start all over, new friends, new life, new place,” she told E! News.
“But I just was nervous. And then this opportunity presented itself and I was like, You know what?
“I’m in a season of change, and I’m really trying to heal and grow and evolve, and maybe this is it. Maybe this is what I need to propel myself forward.”
READ MORE: Cult film hinged on Adam Sandler meeting star’s single demand
Winter is not the only former child star to experience the kind of trolling she faced growing up famous.
Earlier this year, Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown shared a powerful video message to her more than 63.2 million followers on Instagram, saying she believes many people expect her to always look like she did playing Eleven, her character on the hit show.
Brown, who recently married Jon Bon Jovi’s son Jake Bongiovi, called out some of the articles and headlines that had been published remaking on her looks and said it was “bullying”.
“I started in this industry when I was 10 years old. I grew up in front of the world, and for some reason, people can’t seem to grow up with me,” she began.
“Instead, they act like I’m supposed to stay frozen in time, like I should still look the way I did on Stranger Things season 1. And because I don’t, I’m now a target.”
FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.
