Joe Manganiello has claimed then-wife Sofia Vergara refused to hug him even after he “begged” for affection amid his debilitating health struggle.
Joe Manganiello has claimed Sofia Vergara refused to hug him even after he “begged” for affection amid his debilitating health struggle.
The 49-year-old actor suffered a string of medical problems shortly after he and the Modern Family actress tied the knot in 2015, with his symptoms including abdominal pain that left him unable to walk as his digestive tract ulcerated, fevers, blistering rashes, headaches and fatigue, and he grew increasingly worse in the seven years that followed.
In his new memoir, Bloodlines, Joe told how his illness took a toll on his marriage, which had “become devoid of any emotionality whatsoever.”
According to People magazine, Joe wrote that Sofia refused to hug him and ridiculed him over his pet chihuahua, a sickly pup he had adopted when considering suicide in 2019.
He told the publication: “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.”
While Sofia previously claimed they had split in 2023 because Joe “wanted to have kids, and I didn’t want to be an old mom”, the Magic Mike actor insisted he gave up on the idea of starting a family due to his illness and after failed IVF attempts and led them to consider using donor eggs, he was worried about dying and leaving the 54-year-old star with a child “who wasn’t biologically hers.”
Joe admitted one of his motivations for writing his memoir was to correct a version of events in the public domain.
He said: “There were things said and printed about me that were false.”
During his illness, Joe lost 60 lbs and had part of his intestines removed, but never received a conclusive diagnosis.
He said: “It happened to me, and it’s the truth, and I have all the scars to prove it.
“[Autoimmune] conditions are a dumping ground for things [doctors] don’t understand. They start running you through this gauntlet of drugs.”
The former True Blood star tried various medications and alternative healing and believes it was a Santa Monica shaman, who told him generational trauma was to blame, that helped him recover.
Joe – who is now symptom-free and off medication – said: “Whatever chains there were to the past suffering of my ancestors, they were completely broken. There’s not an ounce of fear in me about moving forward with my life.”
The actor is now looking ahead to the future with fiancée Caitlin O’Connor, and he and the 37-year-old beauty are thinking about potentially having children.
He said: “Caitlin came into my life at this point where it was obvious to me that [she] was the direction to go.”
He added of potential parenthood: “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.”
Joe Manganiello claims Sofia Vergara refused to hug him during health battle
