'Modern Family' star Ariel Winter says she felt 'an overwhelming amount of negativity and sexualization' when she was a teenager
- Ariel Winter opened up about the body-shaming she faced while on "Modern Family."
- Speaking on "RTT: The Estefans," she said that she got called a "fat slut" when she was 13.
Ariel Winter opened up about the body-shaming she experienced while starring on ABC's hit comedy "Modern Family." In a recent appearance on "Red Table Talk: The Estefans," the 22-year-old shared how she felt "an overwhelming amount of negativity and sexualization" when she was a teenager.
"I got called a 'fat slut' when I was 13," Winter said. "That was rough. Because I gained weight and my body changed, I had to wear different outfits, and I wore a dress that had a cutout here [points to chest] — and the headlines were dark."
Winter said the antidepressants she was taking in high school caused her body to change and she gained 30 pounds.
"It was rough going to school. It was rough online," she said, noting that her Instagram account was "flooding comments."
"And so then I was like, 'They hate this about me. I need to work on it. I need to be thinner. I need to change my hair here. My cheeks look weird. If I change these things about me, the things they hate about me, I'm not going to get that anymore. I'm going to get praised.'"
Winter has previously opened up about being body-shamed when fans assumed she switched medications.
"People on the internet really suck," she said in an interview with Teen Vogue. "It bothered me for so many years — I mean, it still does. It never goes away."
She has also revealed in the past that she felt oversexualized at a young age, in part because her mother (who Winter was emancipated from at age 14) would dress her in miniskirts and "low-cut" things.
"I'm definitely still on a journey," Winter said about how she is coping now. "I've been in therapy twice a week for years. I love my therapist. I love my time in therapy."
Winter's interview on the "Red Table Talk: The Estefans" is available now.