It takes a village! Jesse Tyler Ferguson gets by with a little help from his friends — and leans on one former Modern Family costar for help while raising his and husband Justin Mikita‘s two sons.
“Julie Bowen [is] on speed dial for me,” Ferguson, 47, exclusively told Us Weekly on Tuesday, May 23, while promoting his new “Dinner’s On Me” podcast. “I ask her about so many parenting tips.”
Bowen, 53, played Claire Dunphy on Modern Family from 2009 to 2020, when it ended after 11 seasons. Ferguson, for his part, portrayed Claire’s younger brother, Mitchell Pritchett, on the Emmy-winning comedy. The pair have remained close friends off screen and the Montana native still looks to the Happy Gilmore actress for her assistance with his little ones.
“I haven’t called her at 3:00 a.m. yet, but I think she would pick up if I did,” he told Us.
Ferguson, who shares sons Beckett, 2, and Sullivan, 6 months, with Mikita, 37, noted that he is ready to pay it forward should former costar Sarah Hyland become a mom someday. (Bowen, for her part, shares son Oliver, 16, and twins John and Gus, 14, with ex-husband Scott Phillips.)
When Hyland, 32, wed Bachelor Nation’s Wells Adams in 2022, the Cocaine Bear actor and his spouse were front and center for the ceremony. While Ferguson told Us that he doesn’t think the Geek Charming actress is “trying” for kids just yet, he’s always ready to lend a hand.
“I would say, ‘Just be married for a few years.’ That’s what Justin and I did,” the Emmy nominee explained on Tuesday. “We said, ‘Let’s do, like, five years of just being married, just the two of us, and then we’ll talk about kids.’”
The Food Between Friends: A Cookbook author added: “Hopefully that’s what they’re doing. But if they wanna [get started], I’m here for advice.”
Ferguson learned he was “really good with kids” while working on Modern Family, but he and Makita have no plans to expand their brood further.
“It sort of just worked out that two boys were what made sense for us,” he said when asked whether he wanted to try for a girl. “I think we’re done. I think two is it for us.”
In addition to raising a family with the Shucked musical coproducer, Ferguson has been staying busy both on and off camera.
On Tuesday, the Class alum launched his “Dinner’s On Me” podcast from Sony Music Entertainment. The weekly show documents Ferguson chatting with a guest at restaurants in Los Angeles and New York City about a variety of topics.
“I never envisioned myself as a podcast host. [But] some producers had this idea and they thought I might be a good fit for it,” the Broadway Rising producer recalled to Us. “I’m always one to try a new challenge. It was also a great opportunity for me to do two things that I really like — and that’s chatting with people I adore and eating at [a] really great restaurant. So it seems like a no-brainer.”
The Pronoun cofounder gushed over the new venture, which included a lot of homework to prepare for each guest.
“My Type A personality is really kicking in hard and I’m, like, doing a lot of research, reading books about these people I’m interviewing, listening to other podcasts that they’ve done,” he said. “That has been a really fun way to sort of, not only prepare for the job itself, but just to learn more about these people that I already thought I knew so well.”
Listen to Ferguson’s “Dinner’s On Me” podcast here.
With reporting by Christina Garibaldi
