‘Modern Family’ star Julie Bowen helped TV daughter Sarah Hyland leave abusive relationship: I was there ‘at the right time’
Best mom ever.
Julie Bowen reflected on supporting her “Modern Family” daughter Sarah Hyland when Hyland was dealing with an alleged abusive relationship 10 years ago.
Bowen, 54, was on “The Skinny Confidential Him & Her Podcast” Monday and host Lauryn Bosstick told the actress that Hyland, 33, “gives you credit for saving her life after a violent relationship.”
“Aw, that’s very sweet of her,” Bowen responded.
She continued: “I was a responsible adult that happened to be around at the right time. I mean, I’m sure another responsible adult would have done the exact same thing. I just love her.”
“Do you look at her maternally?” Bosstick asked Bowen, who confirmed that she’ll always feel close to the younger cast members from the ABC sitcom.
“I look at her and Ariel [Winter] and Nolan [Gould] and — well Rico [Rodriguez] was always like an adult, a tiny adult’,” Bowen said. “But yeah, I look at them all like my kids. I love them.”
Bosstick then asked: “So you can just text them or call them anytime?”
“Absolutely,” Bowen firmly replied.
Bowen and Hyland played Claire and Haley Dunphy, respectively, on “Modern Family” from 2009 to 2020.
While Bowen and Bosstick did not name Hyland’s ex, Hyland filed a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend, actor Matthew Prokop, in September 2014.
The actress accused Prokop, 33, of choking her and threatening her during their relationship, which ended in August of that year.
According to E! News, Hyland said in court docs that she called Bowen and told her to come to her house, which caused Prokop to flip out. Bowen allegedly convinced Prokop to leave Hyland’s home to protect her TV daughter.
Hyland was granted the restraining order against Prokop in October 2014.
The following month, Bowen alluded to the incident as she praised Hyland to Us Weekly at the Baby2Baby gala.
“The reality is I’m just nosy,” said Bowen, who has three sons with ex-husband Scott Phillips.
“I stick my nose in anything and everything. I love my kids, my fake kids and my real kids, so if anyone needs help I’m a soft touch,” she added.
Bowen also shared that she can relate to Hyland from making her own mistakes in her love life.
“I personally made a million dating mistakes when I was young,” the “Lost” star said. “I didn’t live in the public eye, and my life was totally different than say Sarah’s, I mean this is strictly about me. I made so many mistakes, but I made them when I was young, didn’t get married, didn’t have babies, and moved on.”
“I think that’s the time to make them, like your twenties are for really just effing up. And I think that actually you know Sarah is not even 25, and she’s already way ahead of where I ever was, so she’s in great shape and she didn’t do anything to eff anything up. I think that’s what being young is for! You can rebound and do great and I did, and she’s awesome and I’m awesome.”
Hyland, for her part, gushed over Bowen in an April 2020 interview with Glamour.
“Julie has been like a mother to me over the past 11 years. She is one of the strongest, smartest, most opinionated women I’ve ever met. But she is smart about being opinionated,” she said at the time.
Hyland has moved on with “Bachelor Nation” star Wells Adams, whom she married in 2017. Prokop, for his part, was arrested in Texas last month after an alleged altercation with his girlfriend.
If you or someone you know is affected by any of the issues raised in this story, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or text START to 88788.
