'Justified' exec defends Winona character

Justified creator Graham Yost has responded to the recent mixed reaction to the character Winona Hawkins.

Raylan Givens's ex-wife, played by Natalie Zea, started to attract criticism as she became romantically involved with the marshal again.

Yost told Entertainment Weekly that he understands people's point of view, explaining: "As much as we love Raylan, I think Winona reminds us that being married to someone like that would have incredible costs.

"So it's difficult to - at times - like the character who's saying about your hero, 'You shouldn't be doing this', because we want him to keep on doing it."

However, he moved to defend the character, adding: "But we wanted to make sure that her point of view was clear and it had nothing to do with her love for him."

Yost recently revealed that Modern Family's Eric Stonestreet was lined up to guest star on the drama but scheduling conflicts prevented it from happening.

Justified airs on Tuesdays at 10pm on FX.

> Read Digital Spy's recap of the Justified episode 'Thick as Mud'

Watch a promo for next week's episode below: