Sarah Hyland has been put through hell by former boyfriend Matt Prokop, but she has her TV family, one that's always by her side and pulling for her.
Ariel Winter, who plays Hyland's sister on Modern Family, says that off screen, the co-stars have been the closest thing they have to actual family.
Winter was embroiled in legal drama herself recently, becoming estranged from her own mother, so she has some idea of what Hyland is experiencing.
At least in terms of the scrutiny and the public spotlight on her private life.
Few, if any of us had any inkling that Sarah has been enduring domestic abuse by Matt Prokop, who she recently filed for a restraining order against.
Hyland hasn't commented on the case, saying the restraining order speaks for itself. Instead, she's quietly leaning on her "family" for support.
"We all love Sarah [who plays Haley] very much," Ariel tells In Touch Weekly in its the new issue, adding that the cast of the hit comedy is "super close."
"We love each other to ridiculous amounts. It's pretty amazing."
As soon as the cast found out the severity of the situation involving the 23-year-old and her ex, her TV family grew closer and became her real family.
Julie Bowen was even there for one incident when Prokop allegedly lost it on her, but the rest of them did not know the extent of it until recently.
"Sarah never told anyone the extent of the abuse until this year," a source says. "When she did, her TV family banded together and never left her side."
"[Julie Bowen] treats Sarah like a real-life mother [would] - she's very protective and supportive," says the insider. "That's never going to change."
Here's wishing Sarah the best as she processes all of this.
In March 2014, Taylor Swift obtained a restraining order against Timothy Sweat. He had been harassing her in a number of ways since 2011.
This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service - if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers.
