THE REAL REASON

‘Magic Mike’ Star Reveals 7-Year Illness That Ended His Marriage

In his new memoir, Joe Manganiello writes that his marriage with Sofía Vergara became “devoid of any emotionality whatsoever.”

Joe Manganiello has opened up about the health battle that nearly killed him and led to the end of his seven-year marriage to Modern Family’s Sofía Vergara.

The actor, 49, revealed in his new memoir Bloodlines that he has recovered from a mysterious autoimmune illness that led to “major organ amputation”.

“I can’t believe I’m alive,” he said. “I feel like I was reborn.”

In 2015, the True Blood actor married Vergara, now 54. Shortly after their wedding, Manganiello’s health problems began.

“I was getting sicker and sicker,” he said.

He suffered from fevers, blistering rashes, headaches, fatigue, rectal bleeding, and was unable to walk due to abdominal pain.

Manganiello said he never received a conclusive diagnosis for his health issues.

Over seven years, the Magic Mike actor lost 60 lbs. and ultimately had part of his intestines removed, forcing him to rely on an ostomy bag after he could no longer go to the bathroom normally.

Manganiello wrote that his marriage had “become devoid of any emotionality whatsoever.”

Vergara would not hug him even when he begged, he revealed in his new book. He claimed she ridiculed him for his 5-lb chihuahua he adopted when he was considering suicide.

“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.

The actor accuses Vergara of saying false things about him and is using his memoir to set the record straight.

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Vergara told a Spanish newspaper that their marriage “broke up because my husband was younger; he wanted to have kids, and I didn’t want to be an old mom.”

Manganiello pushed back on that account, saying his illness led him to give up on having children because he feared it could kill him.

The couple divorced in 2023, and Maganiello is now engaged to actress and TV host Caitlin O’Connor, 37.

“Caitlin came into my life at this point where it was obvious to me that [she] was the direction to go,” he said.

The couple is considering having kids, People reports.

“For seven years I thought I was going to be dead the next week,” he said. “The world has opened back up to me.”

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Lauren HartleyBreaking News Intern

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