Gloria Delgado Pritchett is the wife of Jay and mother to Manny and little Joe. Coming from Columbia, she fell in love with her (now) husband after meeting in a diner. And ever since their meeting, Gloria has been apart of a crazy American, Modern Family.
As a Latin woman, Gloria takes great pride in her heritage and tries to instill the same notion in her two sons. But if you expect Gloria to be a hushed housewife who does everything her husband tells her, you’d be very wrong. Gloria is strong, independent, and is known for yelling while speaking. She’s colorful and beautiful and uses it to her advantage. She even uses her gorgeous looks to her advantage when she gets into some sort of trouble — just like the 10 instances below.
SHE CAUSED MULTIPLE CAR ACCIDENTS
It’s safe to say that Gloria isn’t the best driver. She ran over a Christmas tree when driving with Luke and has gotten very physical with others when they steer her wrong while behind the wheel.
In one episode, “Moon Landing,” Gloria enlists the help of Mitchell for some law help. After getting into a fender bender, she asks Mitchell to take a closer look at her case and insists on her innocence. As soon as she walked away, though, Manny told Mitchell she was a horrible driver who was to blame for the accident. By the end of the episode, Gloria got into another accident when she drove right into the building.
SHE KILLED THE NEIGHBOR’S DOG
In the earlier seasons of Modern Family, we learn that Gloria isn’t a big animal person. She was never a fan of when Jay kept Stella and talks about killing animals all the time because her family has a long line of butchers.
In this particular episode, Gloria marched over to her neighbor’s house after being woken by his barking dog. After the barking persisted a few days later, the dog mysteriously disappeared… Their neighbor marched over and demanded to know where his dog went but Gloria pleaded her innocense before strutting away. Meanwhile, Jay looked horrified at the thought of what Gloria did to that poor dog.
WHEN SHE SENT AN INSULTING EMAIL TO CLAIRE
It took a few seasons for Gloria and Claire to be completely okay with one another. Claire (now) loves Gloria and thinks she’s good for her dad but it’s their close age range that makes her uncomfortable (not to mention her stunning good looks).
In this episode, Gloria got into a disagreement with Claire and decided to write out her feelings to her in an email with the intention of never sending it. But what did she do by accident? She sent it. She then went on a long hunt to break into Claire’s email account to delete the email.
SHE TALKED POORLY ABOUT MANNY (AND HE HEARD)
In the second season in an episode called “Mother’s Day,” Claire and Gloria wanted to spend their Mother’s Day outdoors in nature. They brought the kids along for a hike but after the kids did nothing but complain all afternoon, the two moms left them there to fend for themselves.
Now that the two were alone, Claire convinces Gloria that she should vent more about parenting so that she could release some negative emotions. It took some convincing, but Gloria soon unleashed a lot of ill feelings about Manny’s poetry, calling it not very good. Sadly, Manny was right around the corner and heard it all.
PRANKING MANNY ON HIS COLLEGE TOUR
When it was time for Manny and Luke to go to college at the same time, Gloria had a hard time parting ways. Sure, she had little Joe now, but for years it was only her and Manny against the world. Seeing her little sidekick go off to school was too much to bare so she decided to make it fun instead of emotional.
While on Manny and Luke’s college tour, Gloria decided to haze Manny in various ways that really upset him. She tied his shoelaces together so that he would fall, she put a piglet in his bed while he was sleeping, and she pushed him into the girls’ locker room. Manny didn’t understand why his mom was embarrassing him so much and she looked bad for doing so.
SHE TOOK HER SISTER’S VISA TO THE US
Once Gloria got more comfortable in her new family, we eventually got to meet her family. She had one close sister named Sonia who visited the US often to spend time with Gloria and her family. Every time Sonia stepped foot in Gloria’s mansion, she was taken back by her glamorous life. In a weird twist, we learn that Gloria shouldn’t have even been in the US — Sonia should have.
When the girls were younger, Gloria stole Sonia’s opportunity to go to the US to start a new life and never told Sonia. So, while Gloria is now an American citizen living a great life, Sonia is back in Columbia collecting chickens.
AND SHE TOOK JAY FROM HER SISTER
Crazy enough, Sonia had two opportunities to stay in the US that Gloria stole. Not only did Gloria steal her letter to the US but she also stole Sonia’s opportunity with Jay.
We learn at little Joe’s christening how Jay met Gloria. While at a dinner, he overheard a beautiful woman speaking and just had to talk to her — it was Sonia. But while Sonia was in the bathroom, Gloria took her chance and connected with Jay before Sonia had a chance. So, in a sense, Gloria stole Sonia’s life from her.
WHEN SHE PUNCHED THE CAPTAIN FOR INSULTING JAY
Mitchell and Cam sure do get themselves into some sticky situations before they have the courage to tell the truth. In the episode “Leap Day,” it’s Cameron’s 40th birthday party and Mitchell promised to throw him an epic party to celebrate.
But once his party plans fall through, he decided to have the party on a boat instead. However, once they arrive at the boat, the captain makes a rude remark about Jay’s age and Gloria punches him before he could get another word in. In short, this group did not get to celebrate Cam’s birthday on a boat but they did get to go to the theme park instead.
WHEN SHE LEFT JOE ASLEEP IN THE CAR
Gloria admitted that she lets baby Joe stay in the car after he falls asleep when they get home from running errands. Jay, on the other hand, was infuriated when he learned his wife let their sleeping child in a car, saying he’s free “coyote food.”
Gloria seemed unbothered by it and continued to do it as long as Jay didn’t find out. But as we all know, leaving a baby in a hot car is a horrible idea. Even worse, leaving a baby with all the windows down is dangerous enough to have him taken.
SHE PUT PHIL’S TURKEY IN A SUITCASE
In this special Thanksgiving episode, Phil’s in charge of cooking Thanksgiving dinner, giving Claire the day off. He took much pride basting and grooming his turkey to perfection but after the power went out the family had no choice but to move the dinner to Jay and Gloria’s house.
The only problem was Jay and Gloria lied to the family and weren’t supposed to be in their house… When no one was looking, Gloria snuck down into the kitchen to take her turkey out of the oven but she ended up taking Phil’s turkey instead and throwing it into a suitcase, ruining Thanksgiving and Phil’s dreams.
