Joe Manganiello Says He Gave up Having Kids With Sofia Vergara and Begged Her for Comfort During His Illness

Joe Manganiello says his seven-year battle with an undiagnosed illness contributed to the couple abandoning their plans to have a child, and claims Sofia Vergara refused to hug him even when he begged. The allegations appear in his memoir, Bloodlines, due out on 13 October 2026.

It is the latest twist in the Joe Manganiello Sofia Vergara divorce story, and Vergara has not publicly answered the specific claims.

Autoimmune Illness at the Centre of the Joe Manganiello Sofia Vergara Split

Manganiello, 49, married Vergara in Palm Beach, Florida, in November 2015, after dating from July 2014, and the couple announced their split in July 2023, finalising the divorce in February 2024. He says an undiagnosed autoimmune condition dominated seven years of that period. The claims represent only his account of the marriage.

Manganiello told People magazine that symptoms began shortly after the wedding, with severe abdominal pain, fevers, blistering rashes, ulcers, headaches and fatigue, and that he never received an official diagnosis. He was treated for Crohn's disease and colitis, but says the medication did not work, and he reports losing about 60 pounds.

An emergency operation in 2016 removed his large intestine after doctors discovered it was severely infected and close to rupturing. After a later surgery to reconnect his digestive tract, he says he is symptom-free and off medication.

Hug Allegation and the Chihuahua Claim

In excerpts obtained by People, Manganiello writes that the marriage had become 'devoid of any emotionality whatsoever'. He writes Vergara refused to embrace him, even when he pleaded for a hug, and ridiculed the chihuahua, Bubbles, whom he adopted while he was considering suicide.

He credits the dog with helping him through that period. He also says Vergara authorised a procedure while he was on the operating table, according to reports of his People interview.

Vergara's representatives had not publicly responded when the allegations were first reported. The actress, 54, has since reposted an Instagram story first shared by her son, Manolo, about narcissistic men. Neither Vergara nor her son mentioned Manganiello by name, and neither explicitly linked the post to his allegations.

Manganiello says he wrote the book to set the record straight after years of speculation about his marriage. The book also covers his family history and Armenian ancestry.

Children, IVF and Two Competing Versions

Vergara has previously said the marriage ended because Manganiello, who is younger, wanted children while she did not want to become an older mother, adding that she felt it would not be fair to a child. Manganiello disputes that. He says the couple considered egg donation after unsuccessful IVF, but that he dropped the idea because he did not want to die and leave her with a child 'who wasn't biologically hers'.

He first challenged her explanation in a July 2024 interview with Men's Journal, so the disagreement was already public before the latest memoir claims. The pair announced the split in July 2023 in a joint statement describing a difficult decision. Manganiello filed two days later, and court documents cited irreconcilable differences.

Manganiello is now engaged to the actress Caitlin O'Connor and is currently promoting the book ahead of its release. Manganiello says the memoir sets out his account of the marriage, while Vergara has not directly addressed his allegations.