Joe Manganiello has reignited tensions surrounding his divorce from Sofia Vergara, making new allegations about how she treated him during his years-long struggle with a serious autoimmune illness.
Manganiello, 49, and Vergara, 54, ended their seven-year marriage in July 2023. Since then, the former couple has offered differing explanations for the breakdown of their relationship, including whether disagreements about starting a family played a role.
In his upcoming memoir, Bloodlines, the True Blood actor describes the collapse of the marriage while he was coping with an illness that he says nearly killed him and ultimately resulted in “major organ amputation.” He claims the relationship became “devoid of any emotionality whatsoever” as his health deteriorated.
An excerpt from the book, scheduled for release on October 13 and obtained by People, says Manganiello’s health problems began soon after his 2015 wedding to Vergara.
He recalls suffering from agonizing abdominal pain that left him unable to walk as ulcers developed throughout his digestive tract. He also experienced fevers, blistering skin rashes, headaches, exhaustion and rectal bleeding.
The illness caused him to lose 60 pounds and undergo emergency surgery in 2016, during which part of his intestines was removed. The procedure left him reliant on an ostomy bag.
Joe Manganiello has renewed attention on his split from Sofia Vergara with claims about her alleged conduct during his seven-year battle with an autoimmune disease. They are pictured together in 2020
Manganiello writes that his pain became so overwhelming in 2019 that he considered ending his life. He says adopting his chihuahua, Bubbles, helped give him a new sense of purpose, although he claims Vergara mocked the dog
The actor, who says he feels “lucky to be alive,” writes that conventional medication commonly used to treat Crohn’s disease and colitis failed to control his symptoms. He says he was eventually “forced” to use hydrocodone, fentanyl patches and marijuana, despite having maintained sobriety for 13 years.
According to the memoir, Manganiello reached a crisis point in 2019 when the pain became so severe that he contemplated suicide. He says he then adopted Bubbles, a chihuahua who became an important part of his life.
Manganiello claims that while he was seeking answers and treatment, his marriage grew increasingly distant. He alleges that Vergara “refused to hug him even when he begged,” describing the relationship as emotionally empty.
He further alleges that Vergara made fun of him because of Bubbles.
“I had to give my gun away because I kept thinking about it, and then the dog came. I went from being the patient to the caretaker,” Manganiello writes.
Manganiello also disputes Vergara’s previous explanation to Spanish newspaper El País, in which she said their marriage ended because he wanted children while she did not.
He says his illness changed his view of parenthood after unsuccessful IVF attempts led the couple to discuss using an egg donor. Manganiello writes that he “didn’t want to die and leave Vergara with a child who wasn’t biologically hers.”
Our News Outlet has contacted representatives for both Vergara and Manganiello for comment but has not received a response.
Vergara publicly announced the couple’s divorce in July 2023.
Manganiello alleges that Vergara “refused to hug him even when he begged” while he endured his debilitating illness. They are pictured in 2023
“I had to give my gun away because I kept thinking about it, and then the dog came. I went from being the patient to the caretaker,” he writes
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Only two days after announcing their split, Manganiello filed for divorce and listed their date of separation as July 2.
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The reason for the end of their marriage was cited as ‘irreconcilable differences.’
However, in January 2024, Vergara told El País that she and Manganiello called it quits because he wanted kids and she did not. She is a mom to son Manolo, 35, who she welcomed during her first marriage to Joe Gonzalez, which ended in 1993.
‘I didn’t want to be an old mom,’ she said. ‘I feel it’s not fair to the baby. I respect whoever does it, but that’s not for me anymore.’
She continued: ‘I had a son at 19, who is now 32, and I’m ready to be a grandmother, not a mother. So, if love comes along, he has to come with [his own] children.’
Manganiello later disputed those claims in a Men’s Journal article in July 2024.
Manganiello is now engaged to Caitlin O’Connor, 37, above in 2024. The actor is open to starting a family with her, writing, ‘If that’s meant for me. For seven years I thought I was going to be dead the next week. The world has opened back up to me’
His health woes led to him dropping 60lbs and having part of his intestines removed in a 2016 emergency surgery, leaving him dependent on an ostomy bag. Above, in 2023
The actor, above in 2015’s Magic Mike XXL, said earlier this year he had been dealing with ‘a cascade of autoimmune-related illnesses’ that wreaked havoc on his skin, thyroid, eyes, lungs, and digestive system
Manganiello’s memoir is set for release on October 13
‘There’s been a lot said in the press about me wanting a family. That’s simply not true,’ he told the publication. ‘We did try to have a family for the first year and a half.’
Manganiello is now engaged to Caitlin O’Connor, 37, and the actor is open to starting a family with her, writing, ‘If that’s meant for me. For seven years I thought I was going to be dead the next week. The world has opened back up to me.’
Manganiello credits his recovery to seeking alternative treatment – visiting a Santa Monica shaman, who told him generational trauma was to blame due to his great-grandmother losing nine of her children in the Armenian genocide.
He is now off medication and no longer in pain after undergoing surgery to reconnect his digestive tract.
In June, Manganiello first revealed the debilitating ‘deadly mystery illness’ that afflicted him in recent years and led to a ‘life-saving organ amputation.’
In an Instagram video, the Magic Mike actor revealed that the treatments he was prescribed for the illness, which he has not yet disclosed, had their own ‘brutal side effects.’
He also clarified just how private he kept his illness, saying that he ‘suffered in silence, battling a deadly mystery illness’ while only sharing the details with a small group of people closest to him.
Manganiello battled crushing uncertainty, as he was left without answers about what set off his health issues despite seeing ‘the best doctors in the world.’
‘All their attempts to treat it with high-powered biological drugs only exacerbated my symptoms and then unlocked a host of brutal side effects that winded up plaguing me for years,’ he continued.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org
