Julie Bowen Had a Huge Crush on This ‘Modern Family’ Co-Star

Julie Bowen developed the most relatable crush during her 11-season run on “Modern Family.” When she sat down for an E! News interview in 2013, they asked if she had a bit of a girl crush on her stunning co-star, Sofía Vergara, just like the rest of the world and Bowen readily admitted that she couldn’t even describe her feelings for the “Griselda” star as a girl crush because she believed that term was reserved for celebrities that you would never run into. The actor went on to gush, “I respect her so much.” Bowen continued, “She is so comfortable being like, ‘I am a woman, yes?’ And I am like, pulling up my dress and feeling like my boobs shouldn’t be doing whatever they’re doing.” Of course, that wasn’t the only time Bowen had high praise for Vergara.

While the “Happy Gilmore” star was backstage at the Emmys that very same month, she argued that although people recognized Vergara as a total stunner, they often overlooked the fact that she’s also a phenomenal actor. In fact, Bowen reckons that her co-star’s talent leads audiences to believe that she’s not acting at all and instead playing an extension of herself, but the rest of the “Modern Family” cast were well aware of the amount of effort that went into her performance. As HuffPost reported, Bowen also couldn’t help but enthuse, “She is a gracious, wonderful woman, and is probably the only reason why I am able to wear a curvy fishtail dress. I owe her a lot.”

While Julie Bowen evidently has nothing but love for Sofía Vergara nowadays, there have been rumors of behind-the-scenes fighting. In fact, the supposed beef continued to plague their relationship as recently as 2024, with a source disclosing to Life & Style magazine that Bowen was envious of Vergara’s thriving career after “Modern Family” and her stunning net worth. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case since Bowen has frequently shut down rumors of a feud with her co-star. In fact, during a 2016 appearance on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” the TV star admitted that she regularly received E-mails warning her that tabloids intended to publish stories about her supposed issues with the “Hot Pursuit” actor, which typically claimed that she was brimming with jealousy over her success.

Bowen asked Vergara how she should handle the rumors and her co-star suggested that she borrow her blouse and wear it to the talk show, so that’s exactly what she did. Likewise, when the “Ed” star appeared on the “I Choose Me” podcast in 2024, she called the media out directly for consistently manufacturing feuds between successful women. “It’s this scarcity mindset that only one woman can be happy at a time,” Bowen asserted, adding, “And I was like, ‘Oh, no. I love Sofía, and I love how different we are. And I love — she is funny and self-effacing and bawdy, and she loves life, and she loves dancing and eating cake and all these things.'”

Like the rest of the world, Julie Bowen was in awe of Sofía Vergara and Joe Manganiello’s relationship. Speaking to Entertainment Tonight Canada in 2014, the “Horrible Bosses” star confessed that she could barely comprehend how visually perfect Vergara and Manganiello looked together. While she hadn’t officially made the “Magic Mike” star’s acquaintance, Bowen reasoned that she had seen a photo of him and cheekily found that, “He does not hurt my eyes,” per ABC News. Given all this, it’s safe to assume that she was thrilled to watch the gorgeous couple tie the knot in a grand ceremony in November 2015. And, when Vergara and Manganiello’s marriage ended in 2023, Bowen was by her friend’s side.

In a 2023 chat with People, the actor provided an update about her co-star, confirming, “We have spoken, and she’s doing great. Sofía has always had such a wonderful family that surrounds her and wonderful friends.” She even joked that Vergara was in such a good place that she didn’t even need Taylor Swift to whisk her away to a Kansas City Chiefs game to take her mind off things. In typical fashion, the Emmy winner took the opportunity to enthuse about her longtime friend and former co-star once again, noting, “Sofía has always been my role model as far as embracing being a woman and womanly, and yet also being powerful and not… I always felt like you had to compromise one for the other.”