The Complete Timeline Of Sarah Hyland & Wells Adams' Relationship
They're definitely couple goals!
Getty She won our hearts playing Haley Dunphy on "Modern Family," but did you know that actress Sarah Hyland, 29, won the heart of her future husband on Twitter?
Yep. That's exactly what happened, and just over two years later, Hyland and "Bachelor in Paradise" star Wells Adams, 35, are happily engaged.
On New Year's Day, Hyland was the unfortunate victim of a wardrobe malfunction when a slip of her bikini top left her momentarily exposed as she danced around with friends on the beach in Cancun, Mexico, but honestly, she looked joyous and free, and we only hope she's laughing minor incident off.
How did Sarah Hyland and Wells Adams meet, when did they start dating, and where they with their post-engagement party wedding planning?
The multi-talented actress and singer was born to actor parents in Manhattan, and got her start with small roles in films like Howard Stern's "Private Parts" (1997), "Annie" (1999) and "Blind Date" (2007), as well as in commercials and on Broadway. She's gone on to star in many more TV series and films, and has received multiple nominations and several wins for awards, including the Screen Actors Guild Award, Teen Choice Awards, Kids' Choice Awards and Critics' Choice Television Awards.
California native Wells Adams, meanwhile, is a long-time radio DJ best known for his time as part of The Bachelor Nation. He was eliminated by Joelle "JoJo" Fletcher in the sixth episode of season 12 of "The Bachelorette," then appeared on the third season of "Bachelor in Paradise," only to be eliminated in the sixth episode (again) after splitting from Ashley Iaconetti. Adams return to that show in seasons four, five and six — but as the bartender, a role which thankfully could not be eliminated.
Let's look at how one tweet changed both their lives.
Here's a complete timeline of Wells Adams and Sarah Hyland's relationship, including how they met, when they shared their first kiss, their engagement, her health, and more.
1. Hyland first made a very public statement of her crush on Adams in July 2016.
Sarah Hyland is a self-proclaimed "Bachelor" fan known for frequently live-tweeting during the show.
While watching the "Men Tell All" episode on July 27, 2016, the actress let the world know how impressed she was with Adams, tweeting her appreciation of his "Lord of the Flies" and "Harry Potter" references.
2. They finally met a year later — when she tweeted about him again in August 2017.
Only the social media gods know for sure why it took Wells Adams a over a year to notice Hyland tweeting about him, but better late than never. (And besides, Hyland was still in a serious relationship with someone else back then.)
On August 14, 2017, Hyland tweeted, "Oh my god. [Wells Adams] is the frikkin bartender?! Best. Season. Ever."
This time, Adams tweeted back just moments later, sparking this adorable exchange between the two soon-to-be lovebirds.
3. Hyland officially announced her breakup with actor boyfriend Dominic Sherwood four days later.
Less than a week after their Twitter #MeetCute, representatives for Hyland and British actor Sherwood announced the two were splitting after more than two years.
"It's genuinely mutual and amicable," sources said, "and they truly remain friends."
4. The not-yet-official couple kept up the Twitter banter when Hyland took a "Bachelor in Paradise" quiz in September 2017.
When Hyland posted her result after taking ABC's "Which Bachelor in Paradise 2017 Cast Member Are You?" quiz, Adams offered to help her out with "a hug and some relationship advice."
But then on October 11, Hyland threw fans off the scent once again when she tweeted, "The problem with being single isn't the fact that you're alone. It's that you can't puppy dog eye a guy in to getting you Starbucks in bed."
5. A theory that the two were dating surfaced on Reddit in late October 2017.
Internet sleuths on subreddit r/thebachelor noticed the matching backgrounds in both Hyland and Adams' Instagram stories on October 28, 2017.
One redditor noted, "The way Wells speaks about her on his podcast ["Your Favorite Things"] with Brandi [Cyrus, Miley's sister] it sounds like he's really into her, and vice versa with Sarah's subtweets and instagram stories. Brandi hinted at the fact that Wells has been thinking more about marriage lately (Sarah's been tweeting jokingly about it too) and said that it's the first time he feels this way about someone so I'm totally here for thiss."
6. Hyland and Adams took their relationship (kind of) Instagram official two days before Halloween.
Naturally, in the spirit of true love, Sarah Hyland and Wells Adams paid tribute to "Stranger Things" as they posed in their first-ever couple's Halloween costume, adding the cheeky caption, "#strangerthings have happened."
Still, their relationship status remained somewhat unclear, with a source saying only, "They’ve been friends for a while and now they’ve been hanging out and spending more time together ... They’re flirty.”
7. The couples went officially official with two posts on Hyland's Instagram on November 5, 2017.
Hyland captioned one of two adorable posts, "He puts up with me," followed by another of the pair gazing adorably into each other's eyes and captioned, "Back lit AF."
8. In December 2017, Hyland shared adorable photos of her trip to meet Adams' family in Nashville.
Things apparently got serious rather quickly. At least, thing between them got serious enough that Hyland spent the holidays with the Adams family in Nashville.
"I had the best Christmas in Nashville. Full of laughs, animal onesies, food, dance offs, fake teeth, the cutest kids in the world and @wellsadams’ amazing family," she posted. "Thank you for sharing such a special Christmas with me!"
9. Hyland filled Jimmy Kimmel in on the details when she appeared on his show in January 2018.
When Kimmel asked Hyland who slid into whom's DMs she replied, "He slid into my DMs."
Well, kind of, Sarah. Be we'll let it slide ...
10. In Spring 2018, Adams made sure Hyland felt loved from a distance when she was hospitalized due to her kidney issues.
In a December 2018 profile for SELF, Hyland revealed that she'd met Adams in person for the first time only three days before her second kidney transplant in September 2017 — a fact which not only explains more about their history, but serves as a reminder to never jump to conclusions about what's really going on in stranger's romantic lives.
“He was texting me in the morning before I went into surgery," she said, "and we were FaceTiming the entire time I was in the hospital.”
For those who don't know, Hyland was born with kidney dysplasia, a condition that causes the kidneys to grow cysts. Her father donated a kidney to her for her first transplant in 2012, and her younger brother, Ian, donated his for her second.
And as if that weren't enough, she underwent two additional surgeries in the spring of 2018: laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis, and second surgery to correct an abdominal hernia.
Even though he was still living in Nashville at the time, he was by her side in spirit, on the phone and over FaceTime through it all.
“He’s seen me at my worst," Hyland continued. "I think that’s why I feel the most beautiful in his eyes because he still finds me beautiful after seeing all that. It was an intimate start to a relationship to have to go through those hurdles at the very, very, very beginning when you’re just even getting to know a person."
11. In July 2018, Adams joined Hyland at her high school reunion.
You want to know what love is?" Wells asked on camera in a video he later posted to his Instagram stories, "Love is going to your girlfriend's high school reunion when you've never even went to your own high school reunion."
12. And in August 2018, Hyland and Adams moved in together.
Adams confessed his only fears about moving in together to his faithful podcast audience.
"I’m most concerned about my dog and her dogs," he told listeners. "Carl sleeps on my bed. And her dog Boo sleeps on her bed. What’s going to happen?”
13. In September 2018, Adams revealed the date of their first kiss.
"I kissed this beautiful woman for the the 1st time a year ago today," he wrote. "Best year of my life. I love you to Pluto and back."
So now you know.
14. And on October 15, 2018, Adams also revealed that date to be their one-year anniversary.
"A couple hours after we took these pics, @sarahhyland said 'when are you going to ask me to be your girlfriend.' I said, 'right now.' I then doubled down and said 'I’m falling in love with you.' She responded with, 'I can’t say that yet.' And then like 15 minuets later she did. Happy anniversary, baby. I love you most."
And you know even more.
15. Adams came to Hyland's defense after she was attacked by internet trolls in December 2018.
Not only did Hyland spend several years battling physical health issues that wore on her mental health, but after losing her 14-year old cousin in a crash caused by a drunk driver, Hyland was also attacked by soulless trolls on social media who mocked her for sharing a GoFundMe on behalf of the family, insisting she should pay all of the costs.
"Imagine having a vital organ replaced. Imagine having 16 surgeries, going to hundreds of doctors visits and taking thousands of pills. Imagine losing crazy weight because of dialysis, medication side effects and stress," Adams told Us Weekly, "Then imagine, having to do it all over again. This time keeping it quiet while you recovered, all while trolls on the internet judged you for your appearance. Oh, and throw in filming the funniest show on TV and executive producing and starring in a movie ... and never breaking down. Never losing it. I know Gal Gadot is Wonder Woman on film, but Sarah is the real-life version.”
16. And on July 16, 2019, Hyland and Adams announced their engagement in a video posted on Instagram.
In their engagement video, the song "I Like to Be With Me When I'm With You" by Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors plays in the background as Adams got down on one knee on a gorgeous sandy beach in Fiji (n true Bachelor fashion).
He captioned his post, "I’ll be Johnny, you be June. But forever," and she captioned hers, "That can't eat, can't sleep, reach for the stars, over the fence, world series kind of stuff."
As for the engagement ring, an oval cut diamond ring designed by Lorraine Schwartz, when complimented on it by Dax Sheppard, filling in as host on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Hyland said, ""Thanks. I told him what to get,"
17. In August 2019, Adams said that while they're both happy to be engaged, they're not rushing to plan the wedding.
"We're, like, a month into being engaged and I've never been engaged before and I assume I'm never going to be again, so I kind of want to just enjoy this little time," Adams told Entertainment Tonight. "Also, Sarah is going to be, like, Pinterest boards and vision boards and a lot of Elmer's glue is going to be involved. So, I think we're just holding off on that."
18. But their October 2019 engagement party was beautiful.
Adams has shared that Hyland planned the whole thing, including chosing the perfectly fitting location.
Their party was held at the Lombardi House in Los Angeles, which has also served as the location of several major moments on "The Bachelor."
19. Adams shared a sweet photo of the two kissing in front of the Eiffel Tower on her birthday in November.
On November 24, Adams took to Instagram to post an adorable photo of the couple in front of the Eiffel Tower.
He captioned the photo: "Happy birthday to my bride to be. Thank you for being so smart. Thank you for being so funny. Thank you for being so beautiful. Thank you for being so perfect and thank you for always lighting up my Eiffel Tower. Love, The luckiest guy in the world."
Sarah Hyland responded to the post by commenting, “I’m the lucky one. You make my louvre so happy.”
We see what you did there, Sarah!
Bernadette Giacomazzo is an editor, writer, and photographer whose work has appeared in Teen Vogue, People, Us Weekly, The Source, XXL, HipHopDX, The Los Angeles Times, The New York Post, BET.com, and more. She is also the author of The Uprising series and is the CEO of the acclaimed G-Force Marketing & Publicity firm, which has been featured in The Hollywood Reporter and has scored film, television, radio, and print placements for celebrity clientele worldwide.