Ariel Winter

Ariel Winter Workman was born on January 28, 1998, in Fairfax, Virginia.^[1] She is the daughter of Chrisoula (née Batistas) and Glenn Workman. Through her mother, she is of Greek descent, and through her father, of German descent.^[2] She is the younger sister of actors Shanelle Workman and Jimmy Workman.^[3][4][5]

Winter obtained her first entertainment industry job in a Cool Whip commercial advertisement in 2002 when she was four years old.^[6] She had her first television role in an episode of Listen Up, and followed it with appearances in a variety of television shows such as Freddie, Monk, Bones, and ER.

She voiced the character of Gretchen in the animated Disney Channel series Phineas and Ferb before winning the regular role of Alex Dunphy in the ABC series Modern Family, which premiered in 2009 and ended in 2020. She has continued to work in TV animation, including providing the voice of Marina on Disney Junior's Jake and the Never Land Pirates. In 2012, Winter was cast as the voice of Sofia, the lead character in a then-new Disney animated franchise Sofia the First.^[7] The series premiered in January 2013 on Disney Junior.

In 2014, she voiced Penny Peterson, Sherman's adversary-turned-friend in the DreamWorks Animation film Mr. Peabody and Sherman. She also lent her voice to characters in two animated films - Disney's Bambi II and Blue Sky's Ice Age: The Meltdown.

Winter has appeared in feature films, most notably in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Speed Racer, Duress, and Opposite Day. She also appeared on the Halloween-themed TV film Fred 2: Night of the Living Fred. For her leading role in the film The Chaperone, she was nominated at the Young Artist Awards 2012 as "Best Actress in a Motion Picture".^[8]

In 2012, Winter's sister Shanelle Workman filed to become her guardian, alleging that their mother had been physically and emotionally abusive.^[9] In 2014, the court awarded guardianship to Shanelle Workman and permanently removed Winter from her mother's guardianship.^[10] Their mother later released a statement saying that "the family has moved beyond the conflict".^[10] In 2015, when she was 17 years old, Winter declared on Twitter that she was officially emancipated.^[11][12]

She is a purple belt in taekwondo.^[13]

In 2015, Winter underwent breast reduction surgery.^[14][15] In a 2016 interview with ABC News Nightline, Winter explained the awkwardness of developing at 12 years old in the public eye, combined with the back pain that rendered her unable to stand up straight at times, was "really ostracizing and excruciatingly painful."^[15][16][17] Describing the improvement that the surgery had on her both physically and psychologically, she told Glamour magazine that it was "amazing to finally feel right. This is how I was supposed to be."^[15] At the 2016 Screen Actors Guild Awards, Winter gained media attention for wearing a Romona Kaveza gown^[18] that revealed her surgical scars. She was shocked after walking down the red carpet to see the photos the next day and "every headline be about my cleavage and -- not about my talent."^[17] Winter later tweeted: "Guys there is a reason I didn't make an effort to cover up my scars! They are part of me and I'm not ashamed of them at all."^[18]

Winter attended Campbell Hall School in Los Angeles, graduating in June 2016.^[19] She was accepted to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and scheduled to begin there in the fall quarter of 2016.^[20] However, she later confirmed that she planned to attend UCLA in fall 2017. On her decision to attend college, she explained, "You gotta have something else you can do. I've always been interested in law, so I think it'll definitely be something that I'll love to do and also go to school for."^[21] In 2018, Winter took an indefinite hiatus from UCLA to focus on her work.^{[citation needed]}

Winter is a member of the Greek Orthodox Church.^[22]

She dated Canadian actor Levi Meaden for three years; they split in 2019.^[23] The couple lived together in Winter’s 3,200-square-foot home in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles.^[24] Since 2020, she has been in a relationship with actor Luke Benward.^[25] In 2022, Winter moved from Southern California to Nashville, Tennessee.^[26][27]

As of 2025, she volunteers at SOSA as a decoy. She is an advocate against childhood abuse, citing growing up in the entertainment industry as a source of passion against exploitation. ^[28]