Sarah Hyland, 28, and Ariel Winter, 21, won’t play on-screen sisters anymore after the 11th and final season of Modern Family, which will air in ABC’s 2019-2020 fall schedule, the network announced in a press release on Feb. 5. While it’s amazing the dramedy was picked up for another season, Sarah (who plays Haley Dunphy) and Ariel (Alex Dunphy) are experiencing a whole range of emotions beyond excitement. “It will be a lot realer once they get to their final scenes but both Sarah and Ariel are excited, happy, scared, sad and everywhere in between with the announcement that Modern Family is ending,” a source close to Sarah and Ariel EXCLUSIVELY tells HollywoodLife. “This has been something for them that has been most of their lives and that is definitely something they will never forget.”
Modern Family premiered in Sept. 2009, meaning that Sarah and Ariel have stuck with the series for nearly a decade! They’ve picked up an impressive number of accolades along the way, as their show won five Emmys for Outstanding Comedy Series (2010-2014, consecutively) and four Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series (2010-2013, also consecutively). The show made Sarah and Ariel “into the people they are today both professionally and personally,” our source continues. “They are excited and scared of the unknown but they love that they can go out on their own terms and finish the story as it should be finished.”
And we know how far the actresses’ story lines have come along! Both of their characters have graduated from high school, as Sarah’s character (Haley) now works as a style editor for a lifestyle company. Meanwhile, Ariel’s character (Alex) is a biochemistry major at Caltech. Where did the time go!? And as you know, the Jan. 9 episode of the ABC show shocked us by revealing that Haley’s expecting twins!
“It’s as close to what high school feels like when your heading into senior year,” our source goes on. “You’re ready to move on but you loved all the memories you made. That is exactly the type of emotions they are feeling.” And those are the emotions we’re feeling too!