Ariel Winter Celebrates a Cheeky New Year by Posing in a Thong Bikini

Modern Family's Ariel Winter took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a video and wish her followers a Happy New Year.

By Elyse Dupre Jan 02, 2020 7:49 PMTags
Watch: Ariel Winter Recalls First Time Being Cyber Bullied

Happy New Year, Ariel Winter!

The Modern Family star kicked off 2020 with an Instagram post.

The actress shared a clip of herself wearing a thong bikini and a sheer top while overlooking the horizon. She also smiled at the camera and flashed peace fingers in the video.

Many of Winter's followers applauded her for the post. For instance, YouTuber Hannah Stocking commented with a series of fire emojis, and RuPaul's Drag Race's Nina West included several clapping hand emojis. Other followers left some cheeky comments.

"Peaches come to mind for some reason," actor Brandon Perea wrote in the comments section.

"Okay, I see you," YouTuber and actress Alexa Losey added along with a peach emoji.

People haven't always shown Winter love on social media. Over the years, the actress has clapped back at several trolls who've criticized her based on her appearance. During a 2016 interview with E! News, she also recalled being bullied for her body.

Watch
Ariel Winter Claps Back at Troll Over Drug Allegations

"I was definitely called a lot of different things," she said at the time. "I was bullied for being super flat and super skinny when I was 11 years old, and then I turned 12 and I suddenly was curvy and had this, you know, bigger body that I wasn't prepared to deal with yet. But I was super excited because, you know, when I was younger, I'd always wanted boobs and I wanted a butt….Finally, when it happened, I was really excited. But then, unfortunately, photos came out of me on the internet after my body had kind of blossomed and people were really hating on me for it. I got a lot of comments like, 'You're fat. You're ugly. You're a slut'….It was a lot coming from people I didn't know at such a young age. There was such a high volume of it."

As if growing up in the spotlight wasn't already difficult, Winter said this public hate "was quite possibly the worst thing for someone's self-esteem and confidence." 

"So, I spent a lot of time trying to change myself to try and fit a standard and it turned out, you know, I never would fit that standard," she said. "So, I kind of gave up on that and I started focusing on the relationship I have with myself, which is the most important one, I think."

Winter said this journey really "paid off."

"Now, I go to post a photo, and I don't care what people write on my picture," she continued. "I'm really grateful if somebody writes something positive to me, and, you know, I would then love to go and write something positive on their page. But if someone writes something negative, you know if you don't like my photo, you can go unfollow me."

Besides, Winter has more important things to think about than her haters. With Modern Family ending after season 11, Winter is thinking about her next chapter, which may include more drama. After all, she's already appeared on Law & Order: SVU.

"I love comedy, I think it's great, but I want to do something completely different and I do think drama challenges me more," she told E! News in October. "Comedy is a challenge as well, but I've been doing it for so long I want to challenge myself to be better at what I'm not currently doing, what I haven't been much of recently. That's something I would like to get in on, is focusing on drama."

Here's to a bright new year!