'Modern Family' season 8 episode 8 spoilers, news: mistakes are covered up; Julie Bowen addresses rumors of feud

Tenuous alliances are formed in the upcoming episode of ABC's hit comedy series "Modern Family" season 8.

Titled "The Alliance," the show's eighth episode will center on a secret alliance formed within the families. According to the official synopsis, Hayley (Sarah Hyland) makes an effort to bond with Rainer Shine's (guest star Nathan Fillion) daughter, but her plan for a fun-filled girls' day out turns out to be a bit more angst-filled than expected.

Luke (Nolan Gould) finds himself in a complicated situation with a widow (guest star Joely Fisher) at the club and unwittingly helps his grandfather, Jay (Ed O'Neil), with his petition. Meanwhile, at the Pritchett-Tucker home, Gloria (Sofia Vergara), Phil (Ty Burrell) and Cam (Eric Stonestreet) decided to form a secret alliance to make sure that their mistakes are kept secret from their spouses. However, their evil plan takes a different turn when Mitchell (Jesse Tyler-Ferguson) starts suspecting something is wrong.

On another note, actress Julie Bowen—who plays Claire in the series—recently broke her silence on tabloid reports claiming that things are "icy" between her and co-star Vergara. The alleged cause of the so-called tension between the two actresses is believed to have stemmed from Bowen's jealousy over Vergara's fame. After all, the latter was actually named by Forbes as the highest-paid TV actress last year.

During an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" last week, Bowen shared a story about a recent conversation she had with Vergara. "So I email her last night and then we talk and I'm like, 'What should I say?' because we're friends," the actress told DeGeneres. "I'm like, 'What should I say? You're funny.'"

Vergara's advice to Bowen? "Please, just borrow my blouse," Bowen said while imitating  Vergara's Colombian accent. "So, I'm borrowing her blouse," the actress continued.

The 8th season of "Modern Family" airs every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.