Ariel Winter, 21, has seemingly moved on after her three year relationship with Levi Meaden, 32, and it turns out the split came down to differences in lifestyle. “There was quite a big age difference between Ariel and her boyfriend Levi and she found herself being a homebody,” an insider close to the couple spills to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY. “She really missed her friends and her old life which is why she’s been hanging out with Luke so much.” Luke Benward, 24, is best known from Dumplin‘ and has been a longtime friend of Ariel’s — but they were certainly looking cozy as they snuggled outside of LA’s Delilah on Dec. 11. With only a three year age gap, the couple are closer in age than she and Levi, who had 11 years between them.
“As time passed she realized that she and her boyfriend had less and less in common,” the insider continued, referencing her October break-up with Levi. “She felt like she didn’t have a chance to see a lot of her old friends for awhile while with Levi and she’s loving getting that time back with them. Her entire life was Levi.” Ariel was fairly open about her relationship with Levi, even defending her choice to live with the Canadian actor at just 19. “There are tons of people of all ages that live with their boyfriend,” she said in an interview with Refinery29 in 2017. “There are tons of people that live with their girlfriends, [and] tons of people that don’t live together and are super happy. But I’m super happy in the arrangement that we have. We love living together. It’s just great,” she said at the time. Ariel also opened up about living with Levi to Jimmy Kimmel in May 2017. “I do have my own house…My boyfriend and I live together, and he cooks,” she spilled about the Breaking Bad star. “I can’t cook at all, so he takes care of all that handy stuff. He does all that. I can bake a pie, occasionally.”
Ariel was spotted dining with her rumored new boyfriend Luke just days after news of the split broke in October. The sighting which was at Studio City’s Kiwami, wasn’t necessarily a surprise as the pair have been close friends for years. Romance rumors began swirling, however, after the pair appeared to be kissing after a dinner date on Dec. 8! Ariel stunned for the evening in a champagne colored dress, and although the photo doesn’t show a straight on lip-lock, the two were definitely looking very close. The smooch came just ours after Levi was seen moving boxes outside of Ariel’s home via a U-Haul truck.
The pair were spotted yet again on another date at Delilah on Dec. 11 after she watched Luke’s workshop reading of the play “Really Really” at the West Hollywood acting school Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute. In the photos, Luke sweetly placed his arm on her lower back and her hips. They looked absolutely smitten with each other as giggled and gazed at each other outside. As we previously reported, Luke “was really there” for Ariel after her split and the relationship became romantic “organically.”