The relationship between Modern Family's Phil Dunphy and Gloria Delgado-Pritchett has always been platonic, but Phil can't help but be flustered and showcase his crush on Gloria whenever he's around her. To be fair, Gloria's beauty is strong enough to stop any man in his tracks, but it's even more hilarious and awkward because she's technically Phil's stepmother-in-law.
With Phil married to Claire, and Gloria married to Jay, a relationship between them would never happen. But Phil is constantly apologizing to Claire every time his crush on Gloria becomes obvious. And after 11 seasons, there are plenty of these crush-worthy, cringe-worthy moments.
Their Vacation In Hawaii
In the episode "Hawaii," the gang vacations there for Jay's birthday. Everyone is excited about different parts of the trip but Claire is too busy keeping track of her kids to relax.
In one scene, she is talking to Phil about sunblock when she realizes he's staring right at her sunglasses. With Gloria drying off in the background, Claire asks Phil if she's watching Gloria in the reflection. At that point, Phil couldn't even lie. He asked Claire if Gloria was moving in slow motion.
And Their Time In Australia
In another trip episode, the entire family flies across the world for a trip to Australia to celebrate the late memory of Phil's mom, Grace. But when Jay and Claire are too focused on work, Gloria and Phil start to feel left out.
The two had enough of their spouses' work schedules, so Gloria told them that she and Phil were going to walk into the ocean and have a better time together. Phil excitedly agrees and hops out of his chair after her, but when he notices Claire judging him he quickly changes his tune...
That Dreaded Drone Peeping On Gloria
In the episode "Closet You'll Love It," a few of the family members are sunbathing by Gloria and Jay's pool when Manny notices a drone hovering above them. "Mom, that perv is ogling you again," Manny says while staring at the invasive drone. Funny enough, when the camera pans out Phil is standing awkwardly behind Gloria, making him look like the pervert. Phil quickly responds as if Manny was referring to him and says he was just trying to read his horoscope. For the rest of the episode, he tries to take down the drone with Luke and Manny.
The Itsy Bitsy Bikini
In "Express Christmas," the family realizes that they're not going to be able to spend Christmas together and won't see each other until the new year. They decide to celebrate Christmas early and called it "Express Christmas." But before this idea was put into motion, the family is lounging by the pool when Cameron shows up with Lily.
"Look who's in their itsy bitsy bikini!" he says while holding Lily's hand. Phil automatically thinks Cameron is talking about Gloria but Claire points out that Cam is talking about his daughter. Phil quickly tries to rebound but fails.
Phil Calls Gloria "His Girl"
In the first season, Gloria and Claire weren't too fond of each other. Claire was still skeptical of Gloria's intentions with her dad and was clearly jealous of her in a few ways. But when Manny and Luke get into an argument at school, Gloria and Claire go head to head protecting their children. With all the animosity flying around, Phil says he hates to see his two girls fighting. Claire immediately looked confused and asked how exactly Gloria was "his" girl. As usual, Phil looked embarrassed and tried to cover it up.
"I Got Gloria!"
One of the best long-running gags has to be when Phil screams "I got Gloria!" whenever there's an altercation.
When viewers first meet DeDe Pritchett, they find out that she hates Gloria because Jay found someone beautiful and smart so quickly. Gloria is ready to bury the hatchet but whenever the two women are together, things get physical. Everyone tries to break them up but Phil consistently screams "I got Gloria!" and grabs her first. He even does this when she's not even involved in whatever fight has broken out.
He Pretended To Be Married To Her To Show Off To A Friend
In the episode "The One That Got Away," Phil and Gloria run errands together in a very relaxed way but after Phil finds everyone staring at him them in awe, he realizes people think he's Gloria's husband. This intensifies when he runs into an old college enemy who becomes dumbstruck when he finds out a guy like Phil Dunphy landed a woman like Gloria. Phil loved the attention until his old friend brought up Claire. Phil then realized what he was doing was wrong and felt bad for mentally betraying his wife.
The Kiss Cam
In another earlier episode, Gloria and Phil take the kids to the Lakers game. Everyone was excited because they had seats close to the court. But when the "kiss cam" found Gloria and Phil, they both became agitated and tried ignoring the audience's plea. Gloria became annoyed by the attention so she grabbed Phil's face and kissed him anyway. To her, there was nothing behind the kiss besides getting the audience off her back, but to Phil, he looked utterly lifeless. It was as if she sucked the energy from him and he didn't know how to react.
A Close & Personal Haircut
In the episode "Regrets Only," Phil is upset because he's in a fight with Claire but has no idea why. He tries talking to Gloria about it while she's cutting his hair but becomes distracted when her up-close-and-personal haircut becomes too much to bear. Phil knew the cameras were on him and felt torn when her chest was in his face while he was talking about Claire.
Gloria, of course, did not realize how close she was and simply going about her work, but Phil's face said it all.
Feel Vs. Phil
Part of what makes Gloria so charming is her Colombian roots. She speaks with a strong accent, making some words hard to understand for American-born listeners, but people get the gist — usually. Whenever Gloria says "look," Luke Dunphy thinks she's calling his name. Likewise, when Gloria says "Phil," it sounds like she's saying "feel."
In one scene, Phil compliments Gloria on her beautiful dress. She says "Thank you, Phil" but it sounded like "Thank you, feel!" Phil then went in and felt the dress but Claire swooped in and stopped him before it became any more awkward.