Even though Modern Family wrapped up its last season months ago, we’re still not over it.
Thankfully, we can still keep up with the show’s stars, like Sarah Hyland, who has a lot to keep up with.
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This includes her upcoming wedding to Bachelorette star Wells Adams, her hidden talents such as dancing and singing, and so much more.
1. She comes from a family of actors:
Her father, Edward James Hyland, is best known for the movies Bridge of Spies and The Happening , while her mother, Melissa Canaday, has starred in short films like Float .
No surprise here: her brother, Ian Hyland, is also an actor.
Most people think he’s older than her, but he’s actually four years her junior!
He was in Spanglish , 30 Rock , The Ex , and The Skeleton Twins . The siblings have always been super close.
2. She made her on-screen debut when she was four:
She starred as Molly in the 1998 film, The Object Of My Affection with Jennifer Aniston and Paul Rudd.
Getting to act with those two must have been a dream come true!
3. She’s a talented singer:
This is something that she and her Modern Family co-star, Ariel Winter, have in common.
If you do a quick search on YouTube, you’ll find her covering a bunch of popular songs. She’s also a good dancer, as she honed her craft at art school in Manhattan.
4. She was born with kidney dysplasia:
This is a condition where her kidneys didn’t develop normally when she was in the womb.
This causes cysts to grow and cause disruptions, which is something that has affected the actress throughout her life.
She had a kidney transplant in 2012 for her kidney dysplasia:
Her health battle came to a head in 2012 when her father had to donate his kidney.
Sadly, the transplant didn’t take well, which meant that her brother, Ian, had to step in and donate his.
“When you have an organ transplant, it’s basically a foreign thing in your body,” she told *Self*.
“Your immune system will want to attack it and be like, ‘What is this? This is not supposed to be here.’”
5. Her health issues have caused a big strain on her mental health:
“I was very depressed,” she told Self about the fear of her second kidney transplant failing.
“When a family member gives you a second chance at life, and it fails, it almost feels like it’s your fault. It’s not. But it does.”
This tragically even caused her to contemplate ending her life.
“I didn’t want to fail my little brother like I failed my dad,” she said.
“I had gone through [my whole life] of always being a burden, of always having to be looked after, having to be cared for.”
6. She’s engaged to *Bachelorette* star Wells Adams:
The adorable pair first began talking after Hyland made it clear that she was a fan of Wells on the show.
They’ve been so in love ever since and even got engaged on the set of Bachelor in Paradise .
7. She was disappointed in her lack of airtime during *Modern Family’s* final season:
She revealed this when a fan on Twitter asked, “Why has Haley been missing from so many episodes of ‘Modern Family” this season?”
Hyland responded with, “Apparently I’ve been busy with the twins.”
She was also upset that she learned about the death of Phil’s dad at the same time viewers did.
“I don’t read scripts of episodes of Modern Family that I’m not in, so I just found out that my grandpa’s dead along with all of you,” she said on her Instagram Story.
“I still feel special,” she said, before throwing what appeared to be shade towards the show.
“I guess I should’ve put a spoiler alert for Grandpa Frank dying, but I was just caught off-guard. Like, as his granddaughter, you think I’d be invited to his funeral.”
8. She’s obsessed with her dogs:
She has two of them: Boo and Barkley!
Wells has even said that the couple wants their dogs to be a part of their wedding.
“That’s gonna be important,” he said on the Pratt Cast podcast.
9. She’s a fierce protector of Ariel Winter:
Sarah is still a big sis, even off-screen!
When there were a lot of inappropriate comments on Ariel’s Instagram from those pointing out her “braless” look, Hyland came to her defense.
“To all the pervs commenting on this post?” Hyland wrote.
“GET OFFLINE AND GET BACK TO YOUR BLOWUP DOLL YA CREEPS!”
She’s the clapback queen , so this type of response isn’t even surprising. Suffice to say, she’s always got her sister’s back!
10. She had to get a restraining order against her ex:
Before she found love with Wells, the actress was in a bad relationship with actor Matt Prokop for five years.
They had a nasty split in 2014 that ended with abuse allegations.
Sarah was granted a three-year restraining order against her ex after he allegedly threatened to hurt her and her dog.
The legal documents said that Matt “terrorized [Sarah] both verbally and physically during the last four years of their relationship.”
11. Her independence is a direct result of the choices she could not make in the hospital.
“That’s why I’m so independent,” she said . “In some areas of my life, I literally have no choice but to be dependent. I’ve been going through this for 28 years, and I still am learning how to let go of control and how to be patient.”
12. Her brother had no second thoughts about going under the knife for her.
“I’m about as stubborn as Sarah once I’ve made up my mind. I probably would have insisted on donating even if I wasn’t a match,” he admitted.
Now that is some hardcore sibling love.
13. She is an advocate for mental health.
This makes sense considering she was seriously contemplating ending her own life once upon a time.
“For anybody that wants to reach out to somebody but doesn’t really know how because they’re too proud or they think that they’ll be looked upon as weak, it’s not a shameful thing to say. It’s not a shameful thing to share.”
14. She has some amazing advice for people who lost friends after telling them about their mental health or physical health struggles.
“If someone acts like that, feel sorry for them that they can’t be a compassionate, loving human being. You don’t need that type of person in your life. I’ve experienced that, and it’s heartbreaking,” she said .
“But as soon as you realize their true colors and what type of person they really are, it’s … a very freeing sensation.”
Honestly, we all have to keep that in mind. Let go of the toxic people in your life!
You will be better off for it.
15. She went to an energy healer who told her that she had to work harder on loving herself.
Which, I don’t know about you, but self-love is definitely one of the most important things in my life!
We’re happy to hear that Sarah is working hard on loving herself.
16. She had some real fears about her future once *Modern Family* ended.
“The thing as an actor,” she said , “is it’s like, Will I have a job tomorrow? With Modern Family ending, it’s like, Oh, great. I’m never going to work again. I’m going to have to sell everything and live out of a shoebox.”
17. She doesn’t pretend to be someone else on social media.
“What you see is what you get,” she said.
She described herself as someone who “is most likely a really annoying, loud, opinionated, brash, most-of-the-time-disgusting human creature.”
18. Her next goal in Hollywood is to be in a period piece.
“I want to wear a corset,” she said . “I want to not be able to breathe.”
Maybe someone in Hollywood will call her up to play a Disney princess! Considering she can sing, that wouldn’t be the worst idea!
