“Modern Family” actress Ariel Winter is one of the latest celebrities to ditch Los Angeles, California.
Winter, 24, and her boyfriend Luke Benward packed up their belongings earlier this year and left Hollywood for an undisclosed location, seeking a more “normal” life.
“I just randomly looked and decided, ‘why not?’” Winter recalled to “Quitters” podcast co-hosts Chad Sanders, a well-known author and screenwriter, and Julie Bowen, who costarred with Winter in “Modern Family.” “So I decided within a week and a half to move. We sold our cars, got an Escalade to fit all the dogs on the drive. I put my house on the market, sold my house — we just went back and got the rest of our stuff.”
“It was hard for me to decide that, just because I’m leaving everyone I know in California,” Winter said, later telling Sanders and Bowen that she lived in L.A. her entire life before the move. The young actress goes back to Hollywood for her work, but her permanent address is elsewhere.
Winter left L.A. in pursuit of a quieter life and a new beginning, she explained.
“Part of the reason I always hated L.A. was because I have been followed by paparazzi for a very long portion of my life,” she detailed. “And I really, really dislike having my space invaded. I don’t like pictures of me when I haven’t signed up for pictures of me. I don’t like feeling watched. I’ve always just wanted to live a very, very normal life, just have a normal existence.”
“I never really felt like I could do that in L.A.,” the actress continued. “Everywhere I went, someone’s taking my picture. And I’m just not that type of person. Fame and all that has never been something that I have any interest in. I just wanted to live as normal a life as I could.”
About a month and a half post-move, Winter said she’s “happy” with her choice and finds it “so exciting and awesome and relaxing” to know that she can live a more “normal” life. “Now, only what I want to be out there will be put out there,” she said.
The “Sofia the First” voice actress noted her new location has a lot of “industry people” who similarly fled L.A. — which is not surprising since numerous big-name stars have publicly discussed their decisions to leave Hollywood in the dust.
Notably, actor Matthew McConaughey and his wife Camila Alves made headlines for kicking Cali to the curb for Republican-run Texas.
“It’s been great,” Alves said about the move, The Daily Wire reported. “It really embodies our belief system, especially the ones I grew up with, like going to church every Sunday, saying ‘yes ma’am’ or ‘no, sir.’”
“I grew up saying those things coming from a family of farmers,” the model continued. “For me, being from Brazil and then coming to Texas, I discovered a lot of similarities in terms of what families practice here, especially going to church on Sundays, and being very into the outdoors. It’s been a great transition.” per Cinema Blend.
Related: “Hollywood Is Not America.” Why So Many Celebrities Are Leaving Los Angeles