It’s been six years since Modern Family ended its storied run, but the entire cast has remained just as close. Star Ariel Winter, who famously played Alex Dunphy, confirmed to People earlier this week that she and Nolan Gould, who played her onscreen younger brother Luke Dunphy, have been renting a house together in Los Angeles. However, Winter wants the records to state that there is nothing romantic going on between her and her former castmate.
When Winter stopped by DECIDER’s studio in Midtown Manhattan to promote her new show, Sofia the First: Royal Magic, she shed more light on her living situation with Gould, sharing that it all started when they both decided they wanted to move back to LA for a bit.
“We just kind of had this moment where we were like, ‘Do we want to live together for a bit while we figure our life out?’ And he was like, ‘That would actually be the best thing ever. Why have we never done this?’” Winter told us. “That’s basically how it came to be.”
“We’re honestly kind of the best roommates,” she added. “It works out pretty well. We just watch TV together, hang out, he does his thing, and I do mine. It’s great.”
The only problem? “He does enjoy the house to be a little bit warmer than I do,” Winter joked. “I would prefer it to be a little bit colder. I’m not really sure how he lives like that. But other than that, we’re thriving.”
When Winter first shared the news earlier this week, there were some mixed reactions from social media users. While most were delighted by the idea of Winter and Gould living together after so many years of playing brother and sister on television, others made more salacious speculations about the true nature of their relationship. But when we caught up with Winter, she was adamant that they are just as platonic as Alex and Luke in Modern Family.
“I will put it out there. We are actual brother and sister living in that house. Okay?” Winter clarified. “Because we’ve seen some comments, and we’ve been cackling at some of these comments. They’re unwell. Some of your comments are unwell. I am not sure what y’all are thinking, but some of you are unwell.”
She continued, “Nolan and I have grown up together. That is my family. That is my brother. We are best friends. That is family to me. To me, that is blood.”
While Winter has only ever seen “three or four episodes” of Modern Family, she said she and Gould have “thought about” rewatching the show together. The actress said they’ve “also talked about” hosting their onscreen family in their new home. In the meantime, Winter assured us that the Modern Family group chat is alive and well — and even Ed O’Neill has been an active participant as of late.
“He’s so funny in the group chat,” she said. “He’ll send a message where he maybe meant to send it to one person, but it’s in the group chat. It’s never anything personal. But he’ll be like, ‘Hey Jesse [Tyler Ferguson], what’s up on your show?’ But it’s to everyone in the chat, and it’s honestly my favorite thing. Ed is one of my favorite people in general.”
Winter might be living her own personal Modern Family spinoff with Gould IRL, but she’d still be open to officially rebooting the beloved series, which lasted for 11 seasons between 2009 and 2020.
“I would just be happy to be together with them again,” she said, referring to the cast. “I think they did such a great job creating the show the first time, and I think they would do a great job creating it again the second [time]. So, I’d just be happy to be a part of it.”
You can watch Winter in Sofia the First: Royal Magic when it premieres on Disney Jr. on May 25, with the first eight episodes available to stream the next day on Disney+.
