Photo: instagram
He's a huge animal lover.
By Samantha Maffucci — Written on Jun 01, 2018
Fans of Modern Family have watched actress Ariel Winter grow up right before their eyes. Off the set, Winter was in the public eye when her mother was accused of physical and emotional abuse, and again when her sister became her legal guardian. The public also followed her through her public decision to undergo breast reduction surgery.
We’ve also had a chance to witness her love life blossom with her beau, Levi Meaden. Who is Ariel Winter’s boyfriend? You may want to know these 9 things about him and his relationship with Winter.
1. He’s from Canada.
Meaden was born in Saskatchewan, and raised in Calgary, Alberta. But though he was raised in Canada and got his start in acting doing local projects, he later moved to the Czech Republic.
2. He started acting at an early age.
Upon moving to the Czech Republic, Meaden studied writing and directing at the Prague Center for Film Education after graduating high school. He hoped to pursue this line of work, but credits his boss with pushing him into acting.
“I did it [acting] when I was a kid locally back home in Calgary. I went traveling and ended up in the Czech Republic studying writing and directing and I had a teacher there with the name of Simon Howard who got me reinvigorated in the whole process of acting," he explained in an interview with UpfrontNY. "I graduated and ended up back in Vancouver working for a production company. The owner who was also the director, Roger Larry, saw some of the short films I had done there and convinced me it was worthwhile to pursue it as a career.”
3. Before acting, he was a cook.
Along with writing, cooking also seems to be one of his passions. “I worked as a cook for years, so now cooking is my zen moment of a day,” he’s said. “I also try to write every day.”
4. He used to foster dogs.
Back in 2016, Meaden said that he and his roommates fostered dogs: “It's fun because we are all actors and we never really have the chance to take care of a dog full-time. If we have a month that's a light workload we can take in a dog for that time until it is picked up by a family. They usually take them from kill shelters. It is totally worthwhile if you’re looking to take care of a dog but not sure you can make the lifetime commitment, but you’d like to do something for a little bit.”
5. He and Winter have been together for almost 2 years — and have a 10 year age difference.
The two were originally spotted kissing in November of 2016, when rumors began circulating that the two were an item. Winter is 20; Meaden is 30. But it seems despite the age gap, they know how to make things work.
In an interview with Maxim, Winter said, “I needed somebody who had a lot of life experience and who was at a point in their lives that they could take care of another person, but where I didn’t have to take care of them. Being with an older guy isn’t always amazing, but I got lucky — I have an amazing guy who’s super supportive and loving and is just an all-around wonderful human being.”
6. He likes keeping his private life private.
One can imagine how dating a famous actress can catapult you into the spotlight, but his newfound fame doesn’t seem to have changed his usual homebody personality.
“I still am trying to navigate it,” he told People Magazine. “I try to keep relatively the same. I’ve always kind of been a homebody so that’s still the same. I just go out and come back home with my girlfriend and three dogs and chill out. I try to make sure I don’t change too much because I like that. This is what I do for a job but the home and family is where the actual life is, so I try to keep that in mind.”
7. The two have been living together for a while.
While appearing on an episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live back in May 2017, she revealed, “I do have my own house, last year I bought my own house. My boyfriend and I live together; he cooks [and] takes care of all the handy stuff. I can bake pie occasionally — pumpkin and apple. I’m the worst wifely person.”
8. They have matching tattoos.
Photo: Snapchat
While we don’t exactly see the correlation between peanut butter and cheese, these tattoos are still pretty cute.
9. They love PDA.
That’s right, this couple loves to show off their love and adoration for one another by kissing and touching every chance they get!
Samantha Maffucci is an associate editor for YourTango. In her free time, you can find her obsessing about cats, wine, and all things Vanderpump Rules.