Joe Manganiello claims ex-wife Sofia Vergara ridiculed him during seven-year health battle
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Joe Manganiello has opened up about his seven-year health battle, which he claims took a major toll on his marriage to Sofía Vergara.
In his upcoming memoir, Bloodlines, Manganiello, 49, wrote that during his lengthy quest for answers to a mystery illness, his marriage to Vergara, 54, had “become devoid of any emotionality whatsoever”, according to an excerpt seen by People.
Manganiello and Vergara were married for eight years. Getty
He claimed Vergara refused to hug him even when he begged while severely sick and ridiculed him for adopting a 2.2kg Chihuahua, Bubbles, while struggling with his mental health.
“I had to give my gun away because I kept thinking about it, and then the dog came,” the Magic Mike actor revealed.
“I went from being the patient to the caretaker.”
Nine.com.au has contacted representatives for Vergara for comment.
The couple were married from 2015 to 2023, before Vergara later told Spanish newspaper El Pais the relationship, “broke up because my husband was younger; he wanted to have kids, and I didn’t want to be an old mum.”
Manganiello denied this was the reason, explaining the couple had considered egg donors after failed IVF attempts but ultimately gave up because of his illness.
He said he didn’t want to die and leave Vergara with a child “who wasn’t biologically hers”.
Manganiello began experiencing symptoms shortly after their 2015 wedding, including excruciating abdominal pain that left him unable to walk, blistering rashes, headaches and fatigue.
In 2016, he underwent emergency surgery to remove part of his intestines.
Joe Manganiello and fiancee Caitlin O’Connor with his chihuahua, Bubbles. Instagram/@joemanganiello
Manganiello never received a formal diagnosis.
He is now symptom-free and preparing to marry fiancee Caitlin O’Connor, whom he has been dating since September 2023.
“For seven years, I thought I was going to be dead the next week. The world has opened back up to me,” he said.
Bloodlines is set to be released on October 13.
