Fans don’t know what to think after “beloved character” dies on Modern Family

This article is going to contain Modern Family spoilers, so proceed with caution...

News circulated not too long ago that a "major character" from Modern Family would be killed off and written out of the show. Fans immediately started to panic. Would it be Jay? Would it be Phil? Would it be Manny!? Before long, fans came to the conclusion that it must be the Pritchett family dog, Stella, who was going to be the unlucky one. That was until Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays Mitchell on the show, confirmed that it was a "human character" that was going to kick the bucket. The big reveal took place on Tuesday night's episode of Modern Family, and fans in the US aren't quite sure what to make of it... The character that was killed off was Claire and Mitchell's mother DeDe, who is played by Shelley Long. She died peacefully in her sleep, while everyone around her was dressed in hilarious Halloween costumes. What do you think? Was she a major character? Her seven appearances in 10 seasons would beg to differ, but then again she is mentioned quite regularly throughout the entirety of the series. Over a month ago, co-creator Christopher Lloyd spoke to Entertainment Weekly about the situation, and why they felt the family should deal with a death at some stage, saying: "We’re handling some bigger life events in this season," he told the magazine. "We do deal with a death, which is certainly a topic that families have to deal with, and on television, it’s not easy to do because that’s a heavy subject. But at the same time, it would seem unusual for a family not to go through it."