Watch: Adam Sandler and Julie Bowen React to Travis Kelce & Bad Bunny’s Acting Skills in ‘Happy Gilmore 2’
Julie Bowen is leaning into modern love.
Four years after the Modern Family alum said she had called it quits when it came to dating, she revealed she has a new man in her life.
As Bowen told People in an interview published Sept. 26, “I have a lovely friend.”
Though the 56-year-old kept her new partner’s identity private, she noted he matches the qualities she’s looking for.
“I need smart and funny,” she said of the characteristics she looks for in a partner. “I don’t care what people look like—though he happens to be good-looking.”
The Happy Gilmore actress added, “I like the brains.”
Bowen was previously married to Scott Phillips from 2004 until their split in 2017. The pair share sons Oliver, 19, and 17-year-old twins Gustave and John.
After finalizing her divorce in 2018, she declared she was “very single” and closing the dating chapter of her life, even gifting herself a new dog to celebrate the end of that era.
“That dog, that was my retirement gift to me,” she said during a 2022 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “I was like, ‘I’m done. I’m done.'”
Since then, Bowen has also been candid about how she views her sexuality and people’s personal dating lives.
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“I’m straight. I’ve always been straight,” she said on a 2022 episode of the Quitters podcast, before admitting, “I was in love with a woman for a while but she didn’t love me back. She liked women, but she didn’t like me in that way.”
The Emmy winner added, “It never really took off so I never really had to challenge my concept of my sexuality.”
Still, Bowen doesn’t believe it’s anyone’s business.
“I hope people don’t always have to come out,” she continued. “What you do with your body should not be the first thing we know about people, or care about—that’s your business.”
To see what other Modern Family stars are up to these days, keep reading…
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