Ariel Winter confirms breakup with boyfriend

Actress Ariel Winter has confirmed she and her longtime boyfriend have split after posting cryptic messages online alluding to a breakup last year (15).

The 17-year-old Modern Family star began dating Laurent Gaudette, 18, two years ago, and in December (15), she took to Instagram.com with a post which hinted at their split.

She published a photo featuring a still from singer Beyonce's iconic Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It) music video, with the words 'ALL THE SINGLE LADIES' inscribed onto the image, and added in the caption, "Start of a new week, start of a new chapter #dancinglikebeyoncemood".

While Ariel hasn't been spotted with Laurent since reports of the breakup, she confirmed the news during a visit to chat show The Talk on Tuesday (19Jan16), when co-host Aisha Tyler asked the young star about the questionable Instagram post, inquiring if it meant she's single again.

"It does!" Ariel said. "I like to be open with my fans, I pretty much tell them everything like when I came out with my breast reduction surgery last year. There are so many things young people are going through, like insecurities, and being in relationships and not being in relationships.

"When I posted that I didn't want to come straight out with a selfie and say hey I'm single, so I decided to post the Beyonce quote because I love Beyonce and also it's a great song. I am single."