Whatever Happened To Sarah Hyland?

Contrary to popular belief, Sarah Hyland is actually not Mila Kunis, though the actor says she is frequently mistaken for the "Bad Moms" and "That '70s Show" star. Hyland is the only major cast member from "Modern Family" who did not play a character her own age. (She was 18 when she was cast to play the 15-year-old Haley Dunphy.) Hyland was already an adult when she started playing this iconic TV teenager, and now that Haley is all grown up and the show is over, you may be wondering what this "Modern Family" cast member is doing today.

In terms of movies and TV shows, not much. But there have been plenty of other things happening in her life, with the actor exploring plenty of side hustles. Throughout her career, Hyland has recorded a podcast, designed clothes, and sold chocolates. In addition, she has shared her health journey with the public and gotten married to someone she met from a reality dating show. Sarah Hyland, it turns out, has been quite busy.

Although Sarah Hyland has previously said she has almost nothing in common with her "Modern Family" character, there is one quality they both share: both are into fashion. "As I get older, I'm becoming more like Haley, where I really am starting to appreciate fashion," she told Vanity Fair. And for a brief period of her career, Hyland had the opportunity to design clothing herself.

In 2016, Hyland was not only asked to join the list of celebrities modeling and promoting Candie's clothing line, but was also appointed creative director of the junior brand, making her the first celebrity to hold a leadership role at Candie's. Katie Reeves, a representative of Candie's parent company, told Women's Wear Daily, "We've normally just had a face for the brand, but we've evolved Sarah's role into a more integrated one because she's a fashion authority in her own right and we're excited that she can lend that to Candie's."

Hyland was featured in Candie's ad campaigns from 2016 to 2018, and she also helped design various items for Candie's clothing line, an experience that has been surreal for her. Hyland told The Daily Mail, "It's so crazy to see something go from a sketch to actually in Kohl's."

In an interview with Self, Sarah Hyland revealed, "I've always had health issues, and it's a really helpless feeling." The actor estimates that she has gotten at least 16 surgeries in her lifetime. Ever since birth, Hyland has experienced kidney dysplasia, and her kidney problems were present even as she was working on early seasons of "Modern Family." In fact, she was so exhausted during certain episodes that she doesn't even remember filming them. In 2012, she started to experience kidney failure, so her father donated a kidney to her. 

For a while, it seemed like Hyland was recovering, yet in 2016, her body's immune system began attacking the kidney her father had donated. The actress spent several months on dialysis. When she needed another kidney transplant, her younger brother stepped forward to donate. However, complications required her to get two more surgeries in 2018 to treat her endometriosis and an abdominal hernia.

Thankfully, Hyland's second kidney transplant was successful, and she is now able to go horseback riding and resume other physical activities that she couldn't do while she was recovering. However, her health journey is far from over. Her endometriosis is still an ongoing condition, and the scars on her abdomen — which she is not afraid to show — will be with her for the rest of her life. She told Refinery29, "Having scars and going through a lot of medical issues has only made me stronger."

Unfortunately, Sarah Hyland's health concerns mean that she has endured constant public scrutiny. For instance, when Hyland was seen with curly hair — a style different from what her "Modern Family" character normally wore – some fans immediately jumped to the conclusion that she had gotten a perm. Hyland needed to explain that this was her natural hair. The real reason her hair looked different in "Modern Family" was because she wore extensions to hide potential side effects of her medications.

Hyland has also faced far more toxic comments. Noticing that Hyland seemed to have lost weight, some Internet trolls accused her of promoting anorexia. Hyland responded that this was just where her body was at, due to her long-term health issues. "I'm not in control of what my body looks like," she wrote on X (formerly Twitter), adding, "I strive to be as healthy as possible, as everyone should." She even needed to address baseless rumors that she had gotten plastic surgery. In reality, Hyland's "moon face" was the result of her taking Prednisone, a medication that causes facial swelling.

Yet for every fan that makes hurtful comments, there are twice as many that support her. "I have the most amazing fans in the entire world that go apes*** on the trolls," Hyland told Refinery29. She said that her fans are quick to shut down the hate, while many also share their own stories of dealing with health issues. In an interview with Self, she concluded, "They're my warriors."

Yes, Sarah Hyland found love on a reality dating show, and no, she wasn't even a contestant. Instead, she was just an audience member tuning into "The Bachelorette." Watching from home, Hyland was smitten with contestant Wells Adams, and said she could tell right away that she and Adams were on the same wavelength. Although he was eliminated before the end of the season, Adams still commented on the show via social media. This gave Hyland a chance to introduce herself. The pair exchanged flirty comments on social media, until pretty soon they were sending each other DMs. 

In an interview with Jimmy Kimmel Live, Hyland recalled Adams messaging her to say, "Next time I'm in LA, I'm taking you out for drinks and tacos." Although Hyland was in Los Angeles and Adams was in Tennessee at the time, the two stayed in touch via DMs and FaceTime.

When Hyland started dating Adams, she had been preparing for her second kidney transplant. As her crucial surgery approached, Hyland debated how soon she should share this deeply personal part of her life. Ultimately, she decided to trust Adams, who immediately flew to Los Angeles to support her. This sweet gesture only confirmed for Hyland that he was the one — that and the fact that he offered to carry her purse on their first date. The pair got engaged less than two years later.

Sarah Hyland has done her share of celebrity endorsements. Before she landed her big role in "Modern Family," she appeared in an "Olive Garden" commercial, and she continued to do TV spots for companies like Domino's Pizza and Nintendo during the show's run.

Even after the series ended, Hyland has been using her celebrity to promote various companies and events. She shot two commercials for Afterpay in 2020, and has also frequently participated in the InStyle elevator shorts to promote the Golden Globes. In what is perhaps her most memorable short, the elevator doors open to reveal Hyland as she plays a very claustrophobic game of Twister with her fiancé on the elevator floor.

Of course, we would be remiss not to mention that Hyland is featured in a Taco Bell commercial that is hilariously shot like a horror movie. Hyland gets to deliver the ominous line "He can't escape the cravings," and she manages to keep a straight face while doing so. (Her co-star is also a big name; if you're wondering why you might recognize this commercial actor, that's because it's Joe Keery from "Stranger Things.")

As an actress, Sarah Hyland hasn't limited herself to just TV and movies. She also lent her voice to the fiction podcast, "Bone, Marry, Bury." In this mock true-crime story with a healthy helping of dark comedy, Hyland narrates alongside "What We Do in the Shadows" star Harvey Guillén. The premise: Hyland's character Ally attends a New Year's Eve party, and the narrator (Guillén) warns listeners that within a single month, Ally will sleep with one person, marry another, and kill a third — and each of these characters is attending the same party. What follows is a delightful screwball whodunnit story.

"I never really saw myself as having a podcast," Hyland told the Not Skinny But Not Fat podcast, adding, "I think there are people that are better at it than I." But Hyland explained that she was fascinated by the format, which was almost like a whodunnit TV series, except it was audio-only. According to Hyland, she had a lot of fun playing off her co-star. "Even though he was in Canada in a recording booth and I was in a recording booth in LA, it was just so much fun," Hyland said. "Harvey and I were able to really get [into] this groove of ... [us improvising], going back and back and forth, and somehow seamlessly falling back into the scene again." 

Selling vitamin-infused chocolates is far from Sarah Hyland's first side hustle, but it's arguably her sweetest. Hyland's company Sourse makes snacks that also double as nutritional supplements; these chocolate treats are a good source of vitamin B12 and biotin, among other things. Hyland approached the company in 2021 and proposed two new product ideas: Beauty Bites and Mood Bites. The company's founders liked her contributions so much that they soon made Hyland a co-founder and Sourse's creative director.

Good health is an especially important topic to Hyland, since she has dealt with myriad other health concerns. "Being a two-time kidney transplant recipient, you want to treat your body as well as you can," she told Refinery29. For Hyland, these vitamin-infused chocolates were a refreshing change of pace. "Because of all of my health issues, I take probably 30 pills a day," she explained to The Hollywood Reporter. "I've actually been able to cut back on [some of the] pills because now I'm able to take them with Sourse ... now I can just have a treat before going to bed."

Hyland is no stranger to celebrity (or celebrity endorsement, for that matter), but she was still thrilled when the products that she helped design finally arrived on the shelves. In one Instagram post, she gleefully showcased a display of Sourse chocolates with her face on it.

Since "Modern Family" ended in 2020, Sarah Hyland's schedule hasn't exactly been booked with movie and TV projects. In fact, she has only done a couple of movies and TV shows since the beloved sitcom ended.

In 2022, Hyland appeared in the Amazon original "My Fake Boyfriend," and starred later that year in the TV show "Bumper in Berlin." This "Pitch Perfect" spin-off turned out to be a "Modern Family" reunion, because Hyland was working alongside Adam Devine, who played Andy from "Modern Family." Hyland told Pure Wow, "It was just so amazing to be able to work with Adam again." The two played a couple again in the TV series, with Bumper (Devine) falling in love with songwriter Heidi (Hyland).

"Bumper in Berlin" also gave Hyland a chance to show off her singing chops — something she hasn't really had a chance to do since she was on Broadway in the 2000s. "It was just such a joy to be singing again — [and] not just in my shower," she said in an interview with ScreenRant. For Hyland, playing this "Pitch Perfect" character was surprisingly personal for her. She told Pure Wow, "Heidi is afraid to sing because she's a perfectionist, and I very much relate to that."

In 2022, Sarah Hyland was invited to host the reality TV show "Love Island" — a fitting choice, seeing as she met her future husband thanks to another reality dating show. While she was host, Hyland tried to maintain a professional, amicable environment. "I think it's really important to be able to build a strong foundation and relationship with your girls and really be there for each other," Hyland told The Wrap. "Women can be pitted against each other and what I really love about our show is [what] you saw last season — the girls — they're still friends."

Her tenure on "Love Island" was not without controversy. After Season 5 contestant Keenan Anunay was eliminated from the game, his partner Vickala Gray volunteered to leave the show with him. When Hyland asked Gray a question to confirm that she understood this decision was final, a third contestant interrupted, accusing Hyland of questioning Gray's choice. "You sounded mad disrespectful," said Mike Stark. However, fans on social media were quick to defend Hyland.

After two seasons, Hyland needed to pass the torch to a new host. The shooting schedule for the next season of "Love Island" conflicted with another project Hyland was working on, so she had to bow out.

It took years, but Sarah Hyland finally married Wells Adams. When the pair were ready to commit, Adams not only asked Hyland's parents for their blessing to marry her – he also asked her TV parents Julie Bowen and Ty Burrell, because it wouldn't be complete without them.

When the pandemic hit, Hyland and Adams realized that their wedding wouldn't happen that year. COVID-19 pushed back their ceremony, though the couple did at least take some fake wedding photos on their would-be wedding day. The pair rescheduled the nuptials to 2021, but it got postponed again. Hyland shared that she had considered skipping the ceremony and just tying the knot. Ultimately, she and Adams decided they were in no hurry, and they could wait until they had the chance to celebrate with their families.

Hyland and Adams finally got to have their wedding in August 2022.  Her "Modern Family" co-star Ty Burrell was originally going to be the one to read the couple their vows, but due to a last-minute situation, Burrell couldn't attend the wedding. Luckily, they found another "Modern Family" member for the job: Jesse Tyler Ferguson. Hyland wrote on Instagram, "To be married by @jessetyler was a dream and a privilege."

Early in her career, Sarah Hyland performed in several musicals. As a child, she played a supporting character in the 1999 TV movie "Annie," and she later starred as Annie in a regional theater production of the show. From there, she went on to perform in the Broadway musical "Grey Gardens." But once she joined "Modern Family," Hyland didn't have much time for musicals. Outside of a TV movie remake of "Dirty Dancing," Hyland didn't appear in any movie musicals, and she certainly didn't perform onstage. "I'm such a music theatre junkie," she told Refinery29. "Unfortunately, I actually had to turn down a movie musical [in 2017] for personal reasons, but I would love to do something like that again."

Luckily, Hyland found another opportunity to return to musical theater. After "Modern Family" ended, she landed the role of Audrey in an Off-Broadway revival of "Little Shop of Horrors." "Audrey has been a dream role of mine since I was a little girl," Hyland shared in an interview with Today, adding that she loves the experience of performing live on stage for a new audience each night: "There's absolutely nothing like it." Now that Sarah Hyland gets to be swallowed by a man-eating plant every night, she must be living the dream.