Modern Family premiered in 2009 and ran for an impressive 11 seasons. The series was a favorite at the Emmy Awards and the cast became beloved household names. With such passionate fans, it should come as no surprise that there are still many opinions, as there are with many television shows.

Much of the discussion centered around the character of Haley and how her story wrapped up. Believe it or not, many fans are unhappy with how things turned out for her.

Haley And Andy Had A Memorable Story Arc On Modern Family

Haley first met Andy when she was visiting her grandfather, Jay’s house. Andy had been hired by Gloria, Jay’s wife, to be a “manny” around the house. The two hit it off pretty quickly, but Andy was in a serious relationship with a girl named Beth who lived two hours away. Despite the fact that Andy and Beth had been together for eight years, Haley still developed strong feelings for him.

Little did Haley know that Andy was developing feelings for her too. By the time they both realized the feelings were mutual, Andy and Beth were engaged while Haley was back with Dylan, her high school sweetheart. Andy and Haley decided they weren’t a good fit for each other at that point. While they initially decided to stay with their current partners, Andy and Beth eventually broke up. Beth broke the news to Andy that she had been seeing another guy.

“I couldn’t feel more different from Beth,” Ashley Samuels, who played Beth, told Medium. “Beth was in the Coast Guard, which I would never be in, and she really loved ugly sweaters, which I’m not a fan of. Also, she’s a little bit more jealous than I would ever be, and she ended up turning out to be a cheater herself. So, I wouldn’t say I’m anything like Beth at all, really.”

Sarah Hyland, who played Haley, even admitted to enjoying the love triangle storyline during a chat with Yahoo in 2015. “There’s always something in the way for them,” she said when reflecting on Haley’s dynamic with Andy. As she reflected on her experience on Modern Family, Sarah said she couldn’t fathom the idea of everything coming to an end. “I can’t even imagine it ending,” she revealed. “I’d just be bawling all the time.”

When talking about her opinions of the show, Ashley complimented the writing and said it succeeded in appealing to a wide variety of people. “Modern Family has intelligent humor,” Ashley observed. “They have this family dynamic that’s also so wholesome, and it’s a show that the entire family can watch together. It’s funny for everyone. They have extremely well-written jokes, so they’re not doing fart jokes or sex jokes. The writers and producers were brilliant.”

Fans React To Haley And Dylan Being Together At The End Of The Series

After Adam Devine left Modern Family, they set Haley up with another love interest, before eventually landing with Dylan. Not only did she and Dylan get back together, but she became pregnant and had twins. This, in addition to their eventual marriage, seemed to be a way of permanently sticking Haley and Dylan together long after the series ended.

However, not all fans were happy with this ending. Many fans believed Haley should’ve ended up with Andy. The fact that Dylan was the person she would go on to have kids with actually angered a lot of longtime fans of the show. These viewers felt that he was a high school boyfriend and shouldn’t have been brought back into her life.

“I actually hated the fact that she ended up with Dylan, after all the relationships and i hated even more when she got pregnant,” one fan wrote.

Another fan attempted to understand where the writers of the show were coming from. “I wouldn’t say I loved that she ended up with Dylan she could’ve done a lot better but the thing is that she and Dylan had the kind of understanding that would’ve been difficult to establish with someone new,” they wrote. “Also DID NOT LOVE THE PREGNANCY PART AT ALL. Ig Hayley was just the depiction of what Clair was when she was younger if you look at it another way.”

One user agreed with the pregnancy viewpoint, writing, “Yea. I don’t like this pregnancy thing at all lmao. It reduces Haley to a stereotype imho.” Another user replied, “She was doing great with her career and maturing, then BOOM she gets pregnant with twins marries Dylan and her IQ bottomed out. I hated what they did with her character!”

Towards the end of the series, Haley was advancing in her career by making waves in the fashion world. She seemed to be going down a good path and many fans didn’t like how her pregnancy happened in the midst of that. Perhaps some fans felt like such a big life change would interfere with her ability to devote enough time to her career path.

One user didn’t seem to mind the direction her character took, writing, “Regarding the pregnancy, Haley was 25 or so when she got pregnant. It’s really not that serious, and her and Dylan knew each other for a long time prior, and dated for a long time on/off. I didn’t think it was a big deal, and she said she was considering going back to work anyways… It’s not wrong to have a baby at 25, or to want to bond with your kids before going back to work. Clare was 18-21 with Haley. Not the same.”

Another user argued that Haley could’ve taken a more non-traditional approach. They wrote, “Everyone is always talking about how she should have ended up with Andy or Dylan, but imho the real character development and the most satisfying ending should be her staying single, pursuing her thriving career, and learning to be independent. Not to say she should not have romance, but that’s always been her character arcs and I’m really bored with that I want something else from her.”

Adam Devine Revealed He Is Still In Touch With Sarah Hyland

Adam Devine spoke about his experiences on Modern Family in a 2024 interview with People. During the conversation, he delighted fans of the show by revealing he still keeps in touch with former co-star Sarah Hyland. The two even reunited on screen as love interests once again in 2022. This time, it was for the Pitch Perfect spin-off series, Pitch Perfect: Bumper In Berlin.

“I talk with Sarah quite a bit,” Adam told the outlet. “And I’ll throw a party every 4th of July, and she comes to those, and we go to each other’s birthday parties when we’re in town, and she’s a good friend.” Of the Pitch Perfect spin-off, he said, “We did the Pitch Perfect spinoff show Bumper in Berlin together, and I’m always looking for ways [to connect]. I call Rebel [Wilson], my work wife, but Sarah’s also my work wife.”

Adam even elaborated on what he learned from working on the Emmy-winning sitcom. He said, “On Modern Family. It was such a tightly scripted show. The dialogue was super fast paced.” According to the actor, this was an aspect of acting that he had not yet experienced. “I remember when they hired me, Steve Levitan, who’s one of the creators and producers, he was like, ‘We want you to be the breath of fresh air. You’re coming in season 5. Maybe you can improv a little and keep people on their toes,'” he revealed.

Adam remembered his response, saying, “And I’m like, ‘All right.’ It was the first scene, I go in and I improv a little something with Sofia Vergara. I remember she just had a blank [expression] and looked over to the producer village where all the producers sit, and she just goes, ‘What?’ She was so confused by what the hell I was doing because it wasn’t part of the script. Steve comes over to me and was like, ‘Hey, remember when we said you could improv? Let’s not do that anymore. Let’s stick to the script.’ So I think it taught me just the fast pace of sitcom acting and how it’s kind of a different beast and super fun to do.”

Adam hasn’t been able to escape the anger of Modern Family fans who believe Andy was the one Haley should’ve ended up with. One fan tweeted, “adam devine leaving modern family and ruining the arch for andy and haley should be considered a crime. we need to hate him more for leaving. i deserved better. haley deserved better.”

Surprisingly, Adam replied by providing some insight as to why he left the show. “Offense TAKEN,” he wrote. “Hehe. They wanted to bring me back towards the end of the show but I was already shooting another project. Hollywood baby!!! Sarah rules. The show ruled and I loved being a part of it.”

Even though he didn’t stay on the show for the remainder of its run, Adam told People that he would “love to do” another series like Modern Family sometime. “I’m not opposed to it.”