What Really Happened To Sarah Hyland

During the 2010s, Sarah Hyland became one of the most familiar actors on television. This was not surprising, given that viewers of "Modern Family" watched her grow from teenager to young woman over the course of the beloved sitcom's 11 seasons. From 2009 until 2020, Hyland portrayed Hayley Dunphy, oldest child of Phil and Claire Dunphy (played by Ty Burrell and Julie Bowen), who navigated all manner of typical teenage dilemmas until eventually eloping with her boyfriend and having a baby  — essentially starting her own modern family.

Spending a decade on one of television's most popular and critically acclaimed comedies certainly didn't harm Hyland's career, and there were multiple offers awaiting her when the show finally ran its course. Meanwhile, she also encountered some big events within her personal life — some joyous, others decidedly not so much — that occupied her attention after "Modern Family." To find out what this talented actor and TV personality has been up to since then, and what really happened to Sarah Hyland. 

Many viewers of "Modern Family" likely had no idea that, behind the scenes, Sarah Hyland was dealing with some pretty serious health issues. As she revealed in a 2018 interview with Self, she'd undergone a kidney transplant in 2012. Since then, she'd had more than a dozen surgical procedures involving that life-saving and surprisingly difficult organ transplant due to her lifelong condition of kidney dysplasia, when the kidneys don't form correctly in the womb. Her 2012 surgery was a life-or-death matter; she'd gone into kidney failure, and her father donated one of his. 

All seemed to be going well until 2016, when her body began to reject her dad's donor kidney. Numerous measures were undertaken to try to save the kidney, but nothing worked. As a result, she was forced to undergo regular dialysis treatments, selecting a medical facility near the studio where "Modern Family" was shot so she could more easily schedule her dialysis treatments. 

Ultimately, doctors determined that she required another kidney transplant; tests indicated that her brother, Ian Hyland, was an ideal match. However, she was overcome with fear that her second transplant would experience the same fate as the first. "I was very depressed," she admitted. "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." Ultimately, the second transplant proved to be a success.

While "Modern Family" was in its home stretch and writers were preparing to wrap up the show's storylines, Sarah Hyland was exploring what to do next. One area she'd always wanted to explore was music, and in 2019, she teamed up with another singer to release a single, "We Met at a Party." That singer was Jordan McGraw, son of controversial TV host Dr. Phil McGraw. 

Hyland and McGraw debuted their new duet onstage during the 2019 edition of the Teen Choice Awards at Hermosa Beach, California, with Hyland announcing the news via a tweet. "You guys said you wanted music from me! Sooooo LETS GOOOOIO," she wrote, retweeting the award show's tweet promoting her and McGraw as performers. Meanwhile, Hyland also joined McGraw to perform the duet at his New York City show in Madison Square Garden.

As Hyland revealed in an interview with NME, she'll occasionally perform in karaoke bars, provided she's tipsy enough. When that happens, her karaoke go-to is "Right Through You" by the often-misunderstood Canadian singer Alanis Morissette. "'Jagged Little Pill' is my favourite [sic] album of all time, so it's either this or 'You Oughta Know,'" Hyland said. "I really like to belt it out and I only do karaoke after an alcoholic beverage or two, so I don't care who's watching."

Career-wise, 2019 was a busy year for Sarah Hyland. Not only did Hyland begin her venture into music, she also entered into a deal with Olay, being one of six women tapped by the skincare brand to promote the company's new Olay Ribbons Body Wash. Hyland shared the news in an Instagram post, revealing that the theme of the ad campaign was "celebrating the transformation of OUR own bodies, and how they are often works-in-progress ... not perfection."

"I was so excited about this campaign because I really feel that this project is all about being confident and strong," Hyland said of her Olay partnership in an interview with Forbes. Part of that campaign involved a book, for which each of the six wrote an essay that was accompanied by photos. "It's kind of a mash-up of a few different things that I think are relevant to this campaign and the idea of confidence and pushing beyond limitations," Hyland said, explaining what she chose to write about in her essay.

When it came to pitching products, Hyland proved to be a natural, as evidenced by her cannily mentioning Olay products throughout interviews.

In late 2020, Sarah Hyland was again seen on television, although not on the recently concluded "Modern Family," but in a TV commercial for Taco Bell. The advertising spot teamed her up with Joe Keery, best known for Netflix's sci-fi/horror hit and error-prone homage to the '80s, "Stranger Things." The commercial took a satirical approach to the horror genre in order to sell the fast food chain's nacho fries. In the spot, dubbed "The Craving," Keery winds up in a remote log cabin, where he's driven to the brink of insanity by the cheese-dipped fries, while Hyland's character is seen discussing his plight with a friend. The spot ends with an unhinged Keery standing in the rain, screaming, "You don't consume me — I consume you!"

For her part, Hyland was all in on shilling for Taco Bell. "Dreams do come true!" she wrote in the caption accompanying the commercial, which she posted on Instagram.

In 2021, Sarah Hyland teamed up with a company called Sourse to produce a line of vitamins infused with chocolate. This time Hyland wasn't just a celebrity spokesperson, but also served as co-founder and creative director. "When I joined the Sourse team in March, I made it my mission to work to develop life-changing products that benefit everyone who tries them," said Hyland in a statement to New Beauty. 

When interviewed by People, Hyland admitted that she loved the idea of something healthy hiding beneath a veneer of chocolate naughtiness. "It makes me feel like I'm having dessert ... but it's actually helping my body," she told the magazine. "So that's why I encourage everyone to try."

Another bonus for Hyland was that her chocolate-laden vitamins made it easier for her to take the various meds prescribed after her second kidney transplant. "Because of all of my health issues, I take probably 30 pills a day ..." she explained to The Hollywood Reporter. "That's really nice for someone like me who carries around a pill pack where now I can just have a treat before going to bed."

After more than a decade as an actor playing the same character on a hit sitcom, Sarah Hyland decided to change lanes and try hosting a TV reality show, which have their own strange rules. That show was "Love Island USA," based on a popular U.K. format, and in 2022, Hyland took over hosting duties on the dating show from Arielle Vandenberg, who had hosted the earlier U.S. iteration of the show.

While promoting the show on NBC's "Today," Hyland said that, since she was already a fan of the show, she didn't have to think long before accepting the offer. "I love 'Love Island,' of all of the forms of it ... all of the counties," Hyland explained. Asked if she really thought it was viable for two people to find legitimate love on a show like "Love Island," Hyland replied, "I think anything is possible ... I believe that initial true spark can be in just one moment."

Ultimately, Hyland's love for "Love Island USA" lasted about as long as the relationships formed on the show; after two seasons as host, she revealed she wouldn't be returning for a third due to an upcoming mystery project that conflicted with the reality show's shooting schedule.

After shifting gears for "Love Island USA," Sarah Hyland then returned to what she'd always done best, appearing in the rom-com "My Fake Boyfriend," her first film-acting role since "Modern Family." In the film, she and former "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" star Dylan Sprouse play the best friend of a guy who invents a make-believe boyfriend to rid himself of an obnoxious ex. 

Released in 2022, "My Fake Boyfriend" was followed shortly after by "Pitch Perfect: Bumper to Berlin," a TV series about cappella singers inspired by the "Pitch Perfect" film franchise. The opportunity was a win-win for her; not only did she have the opportunity to do some singing, she also got to reunite with Adam Devine, who played her boyfriend, Andy Bailey, on "Modern Family." "It was really a dream to be a part of the 'Pitch Perfect' world," Hyland gushed in an interview with Parade. "And I take it very seriously and I'm very honored to be a part of it."

For Hyland, "Bumper to Berlin" provided another opportunity to showcase her musical talent. "I really love singing and I've sung my whole life and I've done theater, so I wanted to work with Adam again and I wanted to sing and it just timed up perfectly," she added.

In August 2022, Sarah Hyland made a surprise appearance on "America's Got Talent." It just so happened that Sofía Vergara, who once starred in "Modern Family," had landed as a judge on the NBC talent competition after "Modern Family" ended its run. 

Hyland made quite the entrance, beginning when one of the show's competitors, magician Dustin Tavella, took to the stage to unveil his latest illusion — and also unveiled Hyland as a special guest, serving as his assistant. Vergara rushed onstage to give her former co-star a big hug, a sweet moment that was as unexpected as it was heartwarming. 

The co-stars' onscreen reunion certainly lent hope to "Modern Family" fans of a potential yet unlikely reboot to the TV show, and Hyland has expressed her support of such a project. "I love 'Modern Family' so much," she told People. "I love the cast with my entire heart and soul ... I would love to be back with everybody." She did, however, add one caveat before jumping into a reboot headfirst. "I would want to see a script first," she added. "I think creatively for me, I would want to know what was going on with Haley. I want to see her career back and stuff and her creativity and I want her to be able to do both."

Sarah Hyland had long been a super fan of "The Bachelorette," and while watching the 2016 season, she often tweeted about having a crush on Wells Adams, one of the suitors attempting to woo Jojo Fletcher. He responded, and after a bit of social media flirtation, he slid into her DMs. Shortly after that, the two began dating — which turned into something a whole lot more serious when he popped the question in 2019. 

Their initial plan to tie the knot during the summer of 2020 hit a major roadblock in the form of a worldwide pandemic, so they opted to postpone the nuptials. A second date was set — and then postponed again. Finally, in the summer of 2022 — a full two years later than planned — the couple finally walked down the aisle in a ceremony packed to the rafters with Hyland's "Modern Family" co-stars. "It was amazing having a small "Modern Family" reunion with so much of the cast being there," former "Modern Family" co-star Sofía Vergara told People. "It was magical getting to celebrate her special day with her and with everyone."

While the couple's big day lived up to every one of Hyland's expectations, she just wished she could have been more available to enjoy the epic party. "Wells and I keep saying we wish we were guests at our own wedding," she joked in an interview with ETOnline.

Sarah Hyland has been acting since childhood, and her first screen credit was the 1997 film "Private Parts, playing one of the daughters of controversial radio icon Howard Stern. In addition to her subsequent film and television roles, Hyland has also established cred in theater; in fact, she went on to make her Broadway debut when she was just 16, portraying young Jacqueline Bouvier in the 2006 musical "Grey Gardens."

Hyland returned to the stage in 2024, returning to her musical-theater roots and fulfilling a longtime dream by starring in an Off-Broadway production of the musical "Little Shop of Horrors." Hyland played Audrey opposite fellow Broadway vet Andrew Barth Feldman (who starred in "Dear Evan Hansen" at age 16), who portrayed Seymour. Appearing in such an iconic musical theater production allowed Hyland to stretch her wings even further, as both a singer and actor. 

"Audrey has been a dream role of mine since I was a little girl," Hyland gushed during an interview with "Today." "I am having the time of my life." She also had the opportunity to entertain New Yorkers in the streets of Manhattan when she and her co-star performed one of the musical's songs, "Skid Row," for a crowd of onlookers in Times Square.

Prior to meeting future husband Wells Adams, Sarah Hyland was in relationships with actors Max Ehrich, Matt Prokop, and Dominic Sherwood. Her relationship with Prokop was reportedly fraught; back in 2014, Hyland was granted a restraining order against him due to allegations that he'd tried to choke her, and even threatened to kill her dog.

In October 2024, Hyland was the guest of honor at the Variety Power of Women event in Los Angeles, where she was lauded for both her philanthropic efforts at helping survivors of domestic abuse and her reputation as an animal lover via Purina's Purple Leash project, which provides safe spaces for victims and their pets.

During her acceptance speech, Hyland opened up like never before about the domestic abuse that she'd allegedly experienced during her relationship with an ex, whom she didn't identify. She credited her "Modern Family" co-star Julie Bowen (who introduced her at the event) with helping her gain the courage to exit the relationship, while also revealing how important her dog, Barkley, was to her during that devastating time. "He got me through the worst years of my life, and I know I wouldn't have been able to make it out without him," she said of her pup, as reported by ABC News.

If you or someone you know is dealing with domestic abuse, you can call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233. You can also find more information, resources, and support at their website.

In May 2024, Sarah Hyland signed on for her next project, set to star alongside "Twilight" alum Taylor Lautner and "Four Weddings and a Funeral" star Andie MacDowell in the romantic comedy "The Token Groomsman." However, Hyland had earlier that year parted ways with her longtime manager, Richard Konigsberg. He fired back in September by suing his former client, alleging that she axed him in order to stop paying his share of her earnings from "Modern Family" syndication and other projects — including her upcoming movie.

According to legal documents obtained by E! News, Konigsberg claimed that they'd first started working together in 2009, making an oral agreement that he'd received 10% of whatever she earned in exchange for guiding her toward what eventually became a wildly successful Hollywood career. That arrangement seemed to be mutually beneficial until, as Konigsberg alleged, she stopped paying him in February 2024, before firing him in April. 

Konigsberg further claimed that his services to Hyland extended far beyond those of a typical manager, including assisting her with a variety of issues involving her personal life — even finding her a roommate when she needed one. "In short," his suit read, "Konigsberg worked tirelessly to be there for Hyland in whatever way she needed in her personal and professional lives." As of November 2024, Hyland had not publicly responded to the suit.