Meredith Vieira Commiserates with Sarah Hyland’s Experiences of Physical Abuse

Meredith Vieira welcomed Sarah Hyland to her show recently, and the two had similar stories of physical abuse to talk about. Hyland, who recently got a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend Matth...
Meredith Vieira Commiserates with Sarah Hyland’s Experiences of Physical Abuse
Written by Pam Wright
  • Meredith Vieira welcomed Sarah Hyland to her show recently, and the two had similar stories of physical abuse to talk about.

    Hyland, who recently got a restraining order against her ex-boyfriend Matthew Prokop, was able to open up to Vieira a bit about her trying experience, perhaps because the talk-show host could commiserate.

    Vieira asked the 23-year-old actress, who visited The Meredith Vieira Show with her dog Barkley Bixby, about “moving beyond an abusive relationship.”

    Vieira shared that when she was also 23, she went through “something similar,” and asked Hyland how she dealt with the adversity she’s faced in her life. They both counted themselves lucky to be out of the relationships.

    According to Hyland, she relies on the words of literary giants to find the strength to keep going through difficult times.

    “There are two quotes that I want to say. One is a Dylan Thomas poem, ‘Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light,’ which is one of my favorite poems,” Hyland shared. “It just strikes a chord in me. And also Robert Frost’s ‘The only way out is through.'”

    On September 19, 2014, Hyland obtained a restraining order against High School Musical 3 actor Matthew Prokop, 24. In court documents, she claimed the actor choked her, threatened to harm her dog and threatened to burn her house down.

    Hyland and Prokop first met in 2008 at an audition for High School Musical 3 and later co-starred in the Disney TV movie Geek Charming. They dated for five years before splitting up in August.

    Hyland has kept a positive perspective despite the gravity of the situation.

    “People have to go through things in order to become the person that they are today,” Hyland said. “And that’s that.”

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