Modern Family: What Is The Exact Age Gap Between Jay And Gloria?
The series premiere of ABC sitcom "Modern Family" introduces the three main households in the Pritchett-Dunphy-Tucker-Delgado clan. Patriarch Jay Pritchett (Ed O'Neill) is the father of two grown children, Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Claire (Julie Bowen), who each have families of their own. Meanwhile, he has recently remarried, and his second wife, Gloria (Sofia Vergara), is much younger than him.
The couple's obvious age gap is addressed throughout the show's 11-season run. In the 2011 episode "Two Monkeys and a Panda," Jay buys side-by-side burial plots for himself and his wife with the assumption that he will die well before her. And when the couple announces they are expecting a baby, Jay's ex-wife, DeDe (Shelley Long), roasts him for becoming a father again at his age. But what is his age, exactly? 65. At least when Gloria tells him she's pregnant. Meanwhile, Gloria, born in 1972, is 40, meaning there's a 25-year age gap between them.
While they are an unlikely couple, Vergara believes that Gloria is drawn to the more mature Jay after getting out of a relationship with her irresponsible ex-husband. "To meet this guy that is completely the opposite... I think that's why she loves him, because he's so different. He's giving her all that she never had with the other guy," she told IGN.
There has been some confusion about where and how Jay met Gloria
Jay and Gloria Pritchett's May-December relationship was addressed even before "Modern Family" episodes were on the air. In a short video of the TV couple introducing themselves ahead of the show's 2009 premiere, Jay tells viewers, "I first met Gloria not long after my divorce became final. ... I was at a swim-up pool bar in Cabo."
However, in Season 4, Jay claims that he met Gloria at a diner — after sending a piece of pie over to her sister, Sonia (Stephanie Beatriz), whom he was actually eyeing. He explains that Sonia was in the bathroom when it was brought to the table, so Gloria, who was seated with her back to Jay, thought it was for her. Once Gloria went over to thank Jay for the pie, it was love at first sight — and age gaps went out the window.