Yahoo News Ariel Winter quits Stars on Mars : 'I deserve to go'
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Stars on Mars, season 1, episode 10, "Downward Dog."
For the second week in a row, a celebrity decided to bow out of Stars on Mars instead of fighting to stay on the Red Planet.
Last week, Lance Armstrong quit the Fox reality competition after landing in the bottom, and on Monday's new episode, his season-long rival Ariel Winter followed in his footsteps when the Modern Family star was placed in the bottom three and said she was ready to leave.
"I came here, I didn't think I was going to make it past mission one," the actress began, admitting she was feeling emotional. "I've overcome a lot of things. I never thought I would repel down a cliff. Absolutely not. But I loved being on this team. I even enjoyed missions, even hard ones, in a stupid ass suit. But as you know, I love the word fair. I was not mission critical today and I feel like I deserve to go."
Brook Rushton/FOX Ariel Winter for 'Stars on Mars'
The week's designated Base Commander, NBA star Paul Pierce, asked if that meant she was ready to go. She replied yes and left the competition while the two other celebs who landed in the bottom with her after a successful mission to rescue a robot dog — Super Bowl champ Marshawn Lynch and Real Housewives of Atlanta star Porsha Williams — were invited back.
Several of the remaining players expressed surprise at Winter's decision after the actress seemed to take the competition seriously all season. "I'm in shock," Olympian Adam Rippon said. "I get where Ariel is coming from. In this mission, she fell short. In my eyes, she's one of the most mission critical people of this entire experiment."
"I got a lot of great things out of this, a lot of great friendships, personal growth, and a little bit more confidence," Winter said in a confessional interview after self-eliminating. "I'm very happy I did this even though it was like a little bit of hell. [It's] very hard for me to open up that real and vulnerable space. And now I feel like I'm open and ready for anything. I definitely feel at peace. I'm good to go."
Winter and Armstrong are not the first celebrities to leave Stars on Mars by their own accord. On the series premiere, Superbad star Christopher Mintz-Plasse admitted to not helping the team making him an easy elimination. On episode 3, Super Bowl champ Richard Sherman said others were better suited to stay. Comedian Natasha Leggero literally begged to be sent home on episode 4. And UFC fighter Ronda Rousey opted to return home to her 18-month-old daughter on episode 7.
Stars on Mars continues next Monday at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox.
Sign up for Entertainment Weekly's free daily newsletter to get breaking TV news, exclusive first looks, recaps, reviews, interviews with your favorite stars, and more.
Related content:
