Modern Family star Ariel Winter has boarded NBC's multi-camera comedy Hungry, replacing Demi Lovato, who'd been attached to the project for almost a year. Deadline exclusively reports that Winter's hiring comes days before the pilot is scheduled to shoot. With Winter's attachment, production will move forward this coming week. The project remained a high priority for NBC, which is why the network wasted no time in finding a replacement for Lovato, who will retain executive producer credit alongside their manager Scooter Braun. They dropped out, citing scheduling conflicts.
Hungry follows a group of friends who belong to a food-issues group helping one another as they look for love, success, and the perfect thing in the fridge that's going to make it all better. The cast also includes Valerie Bertinelli, Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglesias, Ryan McPartlin, Alex Brightman, and Ashley D. Kelley.
The show was initially conceptualized as a single-camera comedy and continued to add new cast members following its pick-up in April 2021. It was retooled into a multi-cam series after the appointment of veteran director James Burrows, who has to his credit over 50 TV pilots. He co-created Cheers and has helmed episodes of hit sitcoms such as Will & Grace, Two and a Half Men, and The Big Bang Theory, to name just a few.
Winter played the brainy middle child Alex Dunphy on Modern Family for 11 seasons, winning four Screen Actors Guild Awards for Best Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Through its run, the show won 22 Emmys from 75 nominations, winning the award for Outstanding Comedy Series in each of its first five years. Winter also voiced Penny Peterson in Dreamworks' animated feature Mr. Peabody & Sherman, whose voice cast was led by her Modern Family co-star Ty Burrell. She also voiced the title character in Disney Jr.'s animated series Sofia the First. Her most recent film credits are The Last Movie Star and Smurfs: The Lost Village, the latter of which, funnily enough, featured Lovato in the role of Smurfette.
The singer-songwriter starred as the titular character on the sitcom Sonny with a Chance, served as a judge on The X Factor USA for two seasons, and appeared in a recurring role on Glee. They also starred in the television films Camp Rock and Camp Rock 2: The Final Jam, as well as Princess Protection Program. Most recently, Lovato appeared in the Netflix musical comedy Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.
Besides Lovato and Braun, the show is executive produced by Sean Hayes, Todd Milliner, Scott Manson, and James Shin. Hungry is written and executive produced by Suzanne Martin. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.