Ariel Winter's New Hair Color Means Alex Dunphy Really Is No More
After 11 seasons, ABC’s Modern Family is coming to an end in spring 2020. And, to celebrate the end of an era, Ariel Winter said goodbye to Alex Dunphy by getting rid of her character’s signature long, dark hair. On Feb. 26, Winter debuted strawberry blonde hair on Instagram, writing, “I’m a strawberry and a shortcake.”
Winter began playing Alex, the genius, if a bit nerdy, daughter, when she was just 11 years old. Throughout the series, Alex has rocked glossy, dark-brown-almost-black hair with very few changes, but it seems like Winter is prepared to ditch it for good. “Bye bye dark hair. I don’t think I’ll miss you,” Winter wrote in an Instagram post on Feb. 26, hours before the actor posted her new hair. In the post, Winter shakes out her dark hair one last time. While you may be mourning the loss of Modern Family, Winter was ready for a change of pace.
“I’m pretty adventurous with my hair, I’ll try a lot of things,” Winter told People.com in 2019 after a lighter dye job. “Alex doesn’t change her look that much … so it’s fun for me to do it outside of work.” Though Winter’s dark hair was definitely iconic, her new ginger ‘do is much more vibrant — and it’s a color she’s enjoyed before. In a recent episode of Law & Order: SVU, the actor showed off a similar color and has worn coppery looks before.
“My natural hair color is dirty blonde … I’ve dyed it so many times in the past so really the most important thing for me with my hair now is trying to keep my hair healthy” Winter said. For the first time in 11 years, the natural Winter is on display more than ever. Though it’s unknown if fans will ever see Alex again, this new color is likely the first of many new looks for Winter.
“With Modern Family’s long run ending, Ariel is finally free to have the hair color she wants,” the actor’s hairstylist Tabitha Dueñas told People.com. “She wanted to strip out the black and go back to her strawberry golden blonde look we had done previously when she was on break from filming. She said she never wants to go back to black again.” Winter has been looking forward to returning to her strawberry look since at least Feb. 7, 2020, when the actor posted a throwback pic of herself with ginger hair and a caption that said, “Can’t wait to get back to this hair color.”
Modern Family will be greatly missed by fans, but Winter’s ready for the next chapter of her life. Now that Alex is behind her, there’s no saying what beauty changes are going to come next.
