Joe Manganiello has reignited tensions with his ex-wife, Sofia Vergara, with explosive new claims about her alleged conduct during his seven-year struggle with a life-threatening autoimmune disease.
Manganiello, 49, and Vergara, 54, ended their seven-year marriage in July 2023. The former couple have since offered conflicting accounts of whether disagreements about starting a family contributed to their breakup.
In his upcoming memoir, Bloodlines, the True Blood star details the collapse of their relationship, alleging that their marriage became “devoid of any emotionality whatsoever” as his illness worsened and ultimately resulted in the “major organ amputation.”
An excerpt from the memoir, which will be released on October 13 and was obtained by People, says Manganiello’s health began deteriorating soon after he married Vergara in 2015.
He describes suffering “excruciating abdominal pain” that left him unable to walk as his digestive tract ulcerated, alongside fevers, blistering rashes, headaches, exhaustion and rectal bleeding.
The illness caused him to lose 60 pounds and undergo emergency surgery in 2016 to have part of his intestines removed, leaving him reliant on an ostomy bag.
Joe Manganiello has reignited tensions with ex-wife Sofia Vergara through explosive new claims about her alleged behavior during his seven-year battle with an autoimmune disease. They are pictured in 2020
Manganiello wrote that his pain became so severe in 2019 that he considered ending his life. He said adopting his chihuahua, Bubbles, helped give him a new sense of purpose, although he claims Vergara mocked the dog
Manganiello, who said he considers himself “lucky to be alive,” recalled that medications commonly prescribed for Crohn’s disease and colitis failed to relieve his symptoms. He said he was “forced” to use hydrocodone pills, fentanyl patches and marijuana, despite having maintained sobriety for 13 years.
He wrote that the severity of his pain led him to consider suicide in 2019, around the time he adopted Bubbles, his chihuahua.
As he searched urgently for effective treatment, Manganiello claims his marriage became “devoid of any emotionality whatsoever.” He also alleges that Vergara “refused to hug him even when he begged.”
He further claims 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,” he said.
Manganiello also renewed his denial of Vergara’s previous explanation to Spanish newspaper El País that their marriage ended because he wanted children while she did not.
He claims his illness ultimately led him to abandon plans to start a family with Vergara after unsuccessful IVF attempts. The couple had reportedly discussed using egg donors, but Manganiello said he “didn’t want to die and leave Vergara with a child who wasn’t biologically hers.”
The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Vergara and Manganiello for comment but has not yet received a response.
Vergara announced her divorce from Manganiello in July 2023.
Manganiello claims Vergara “refused to hug him even when he begged” as he endured his painful illness. The former couple 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,” Manganiello said
Just two days after the couple announced their separation, Manganiello filed for divorce, listing July 2 as their date of separation.
The reason for the end of their marriage was cited as ‘irreconcilable differences.’
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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
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