Joe Manganiello is offering a different account of the circumstances surrounding his split from Sofía Vergara, saying a mysterious seven-year health battle profoundly affected their plans for having children. In his upcoming memoir Bloodlines, the actor recalls fearing that his illness could kill him, ultimately changing how he viewed becoming a father and putting further strain on their marriage.
The couple announced their separation in July 2023 before their divorce was finalised in 2024. While Vergara previously said their differing views about having children contributed to the breakdown of their marriage, Manganiello's memoir presents his illness and its consequences as a major factor in how their relationship changed.
His Side of the Split
Manganiello, 49, says in Bloodlines that the decision about children was more complicated than the public explanation suggested. According to his account, he and Vergara had explored fertility options, including failed IVF attempts and the possibility of using an egg donor, before his worsening health changed his thinking about fatherhood.
The actor says he eventually became unwilling to pursue having a child because he feared his illness could kill him. In his memoir, Manganiello explains that he did not want Vergara to be left raising a child alone, particularly if that child was not biologically hers.
The Illness Changed Everything
Manganiello says his health problems began not long after the couple married in 2015, with symptoms including severe abdominal pain, rashes, headaches and extreme fatigue. In 2016, he underwent emergency surgery that resulted in part of his intestine being removed, while his mysterious medical problems continued for years without a clear diagnosis.
In his memoir, Manganiello describes the illness as a frightening period during which he feared he could die. He says the prolonged uncertainty affected his hopes of becoming a father and became an important part of the emotional pressure surrounding his marriage.
A Marriage Under Pressure
Manganiello also makes painful claims about the couple's relationship while he was seriously ill. In his memoir, he recalls feeling emotionally abandoned and says Vergara did not provide the physical comfort he wanted during some of his most difficult moments.
Those accounts are Manganiello's personal recollections of the marriage and are not independently established accounts of Vergara's conduct. His memoir therefore presents his perspective on their relationship, rather than establishing that Vergara behaved in the way he describes.
Bubbles Became His Lifeline
Another deeply personal part of Manganiello's account involves Bubbles, the Chihuahua he adopted in 2019. He writes that he was struggling with suicidal thoughts during that period and had given away his gun before the dog became part of his life.
Manganiello says caring for Bubbles gave him a new sense of purpose as he moved from thinking of himself as a patient to taking responsibility for another living being. He also alleges in his memoir that Vergara mocked his attachment to the dog, adding another painful detail to his account of the marriage.
Their Divorce Story Clashes
Vergara previously said the couple's relationship broke down partly because Manganiello wanted children while she did not want to become an older mother. Manganiello has challenged that account, saying his illness had already changed his position on having children and that the public explanation did not capture his experience.
The couple married in 2015, announced their separation in July 2023 and finalised their divorce in 2024. Manganiello's memoir does not simply replace Vergara's explanation with another established version of events, but instead offers his own account of how years of illness, uncertainty and disagreements about their future affected the marriage.
A New Chapter Begins
Manganiello says he is now symptom-free after undergoing surgeries and other approaches to managing his mysterious illness. He is also engaged to actress Caitlin O'Connor, whom he began dating in September 2023, shortly after his separation from Vergara.
Bloodlines is scheduled for release on 13 October 2026, giving Manganiello an opportunity to recount the experience in his own words. His account adds another layer to a Hollywood split that had long been publicly associated with disagreements about children, while making clear that the full story was considerably more complicated from his perspective.
