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Ariel Winter & Luke Benward ‘Having Fun’: She’s ‘Happier Than Ever’ 4 Months After Levi Meaden Breakup

Ariel Winter, 21, may not be ready to put a label on her relationship with Luke Benward, 24 — but she is definitely enjoying herself! “She’s definitely having fun with Luke right now,” a source close to the actress reveals to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “Despite being seen with Luke, Ariel is considering herself finally single and happier than she has been in a long time. She takes her relationships very seriously and when she falls in love she throws every bit of herself into into it.” Ariel and Luke were close friends for years before things took a romantic turn, and have plenty of common given their early starts in the entertainment industry.

It was confirmed that Ariel ended her longterm relationship with Breaking Bad star Levi Meaden, 32, on Oct. 11 — but the split reportedly occurred in August. The Modern Family star and the Canadian actor dated for three years, and also lived together at her Los Angeles area home. Though the pair seemed like a solid couple, age difference ultimately played a role: 21-year-old Ariel didn’t want to be a homebody, and felt like she was losing touch with her friends through the relationship. “Ariel absolutely loves going out and is enjoying single life and partying up a storm,” the source adds. “Finally now she is back to her old self and her friends are over the moon. Everyone sees how happy she is right now.”

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Ariel Winter & Levi Meaden: Why Their Relationship Didn’t Work After 3 Years Of Dating

Ariel Winter, 21, has seemingly moved on after her three year relationship with Levi Meaden, 32, and it turns out the split came down to differences in lifestyle. “There was quite a big age difference between Ariel and her boyfriend Levi and she found herself being a homebody,” an insider close to the couple spills to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “She really missed her friends and her old life which is why she’s been hanging out with Luke so much.” Luke Benward, 24, is best known from Dumplin‘ and has been a longtime friend of Ariel’s — but they were certainly looking cozy as they snuggled outside of LA’s Delilah on Dec. 11. With only a three year age gap, the couple are closer in age than she and Levi, who had 11 years between them.

“As time passed she realized that she and her boyfriend had less and less in common,” the insider continued, referencing her October break-up with Levi. “She felt like she didn’t have a chance to see a lot of her old friends for awhile while with Levi and she’s loving getting that time back with them. Her entire life was Levi.” Ariel was fairly open about her relationship with Levi, even defending her choice to live with the Canadian actor at just 19. “There are tons of people of all ages that live with their boyfriend,” she said in an interview with Refinery29 in 2017. “There are tons of people that live with their girlfriends, [and] tons of people that don’t live together and are super happy. But I’m super happy in the arrangement that we have. We love living together. It’s just great,” she said at the time. Ariel also opened up about living with Levi to Jimmy Kimmel in May 2017. “I do have my own house…My boyfriend and I live together, and he cooks,” she spilled about the Breaking Bad star. “I can’t cook at all, so he takes care of all that handy stuff. He does all that. I can bake a pie, occasionally.”

Ariel was spotted dining with her rumored new boyfriend Luke just days after news of the split broke in October. The sighting which was at Studio City’s Kiwami, wasn’t necessarily a surprise as the pair have been close friends for years. Romance rumors began swirling, however, after the pair appeared to be kissing after a dinner date on Dec. 8! Ariel stunned for the evening in a champagne colored dress, and although the photo doesn’t show a straight on lip-lock, the two were definitely looking very close. The smooch came just ours after Levi was seen moving boxes outside of Ariel’s home via a U-Haul truck.

The pair were spotted yet again on another date at Delilah on Dec. 11 after she watched Luke’s workship reading of the play “Really Really” at the West Hollywood acting school Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. In the photos, Luke sweetly placed his arm on her lower back and her hips. They looked absolutely smitten with each other as giggled and gazed at each other outside. As we previously reported, Luke “was really there” for Ariel after her split and the relationship became romantic “organically.”