Sarah Hyland Features ‘Modern Family’ Dad Ty Burrell in Father’s Day Instagram Post

“There’s no greater father figure than Phil Dunphy.”

Sarah Hyland and Ty Burrell
(Image credit: Getty)
Rachel Burchfield
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in News

On Sunday, Father’s Day posts on social media were a dime a dozen—but fans were delighted when Sarah Hyland included a special shoutout to not just her own dad, but her TV dad, too: Ty Burrell, who played Phil Dunphy opposite Hyland’s Haley on the show Modern Family.

Per BuzzFeed, Hyland shared a joint Instagram post with her husband, Wells Adams, writing “Happy Father’s Day to all the dads in your life! #fathersday.” The photo featured Hyland’s and Adams’ dads, Edward Hyland and Robert Adams, respectively—but also Burrell, with whom Hyland’s character shared one of the most wholesome father-daughter relationships maybe ever on screen. 

Sarah Hyland on a red carpet

(Image credit: Getty)

“Ok I just cried a little over Phil Dunphy being in this,” one user commented. “Phill [sic] is EVERYBODYS dad,” someone else wrote. “There’s no greater father figure than Phil Dunphy.”

Burrell and Hyland have remained close since filming on Modern Family wrapped in 2020. In fact, Burrell was slated to officiate Hyland and Adams’ wedding last August but had to step down because of a family emergency. Ultimately another Modern Family costar, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, wound up officiating. 

“I don’t know if people know this, but Ty Burrell was meant to do it, and there was a family emergency,” Ferguson told Entertainment Tonight at the time. “So, I got a phone call 12 days before the wedding, and that’s why Ty wasn’t there. He had stuff going on.”

He continued “But I did call Ty like, ‘What are some of your bullet points that you were going to talk about? Because I need to fast track this.’ He hadn’t written anything up, but he had some ideas, and I was like ‘Oh, this is all really good. This is a jumping off place.’ I was honored to do it. Very happy to understudy Ty Burrell.”

We love the continuing connection between this cast!

Rachel Burchfield
Rachel Burchfield
Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor

Rachel Burchfield is a writer, editor, and podcaster whose primary interests are fashion and beauty, society and culture, and, most especially, the British Royal Family and other royal families around the world. She serves as Marie Claire’s Senior Celebrity and Royals Editor and has also contributed to publications like Allure, Cosmopolitan, Elle, Glamour, Harper’s Bazaar, InStyle, People, Vanity Fair, Vogue, and W, among others. Before taking on her current role with Marie Claire, Rachel served as its Weekend Editor and later Royals Editor. She is the cohost of Podcast Royal, a show that was named a top five royal podcast by The New York Times. A voracious reader and lover of books, Rachel also hosts I’d Rather Be Reading, which spotlights the best current nonfiction books hitting the market and interviews the authors of them. Rachel frequently appears as a media commentator, and she or her work has appeared on outlets like NBC’s Today Show, ABC’s Good Morning America, CNN, and more. 

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