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In his memoir, coming out soon, Joe Manganiello tells the story of when his then-wife, Sofía Vergara, made fun of him for the dog he adopted in 2019, amid his prolonged, secret illness, and what went through his head.
In Bloodlines, set to come out on October 13th, the actor from True Blood and Magic Mike recalls how he took on an additional role during one of his toughest moments in life: caregiver to Bubbles, a little 5-lb. Chihuahua.
“I had to give my gun away because I kept thinking about it, and then the dog came,” Manganiello writes. “I went from being the patient to the caretaker.”
Excerpts from the book appeared in People magazine alongside the interview with the 49-year-old actor on Wednesday. He describes the marriage that became increasingly distant with his deteriorating health. He says it was “completely devoid of any emotionality whatsoever,” and that his wife refused to hug him even if he pleaded with her.
Vergara, now 54, hasn’t publicly commented on these accusations yet.
As per Manganiello, the health problems started very quickly after he and Vergara got married in November 2015 in Palm Beach, Florida. Over the course of seven years, according to his estimates, he lost 60 pounds, experienced terrible abdominal pains, and had a lot of procedures done to him. In 2016, he had a section of his intestines taken away during the emergency surgery, resulting in him needing an ostomy bag.
That same year, he quit his job on the History Channel series Six because of his health problem. Neither he nor Vergara shared any details of that problem with the public.
“For seven years I thought I was going to be dead the next week,” Manganiello said.
According to Avid Reader Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, the publishing company for the book, Manganiello suffered a series of autoimmune illnesses that impacted his skin, thyroid, eyes, lungs, and digestive system to the point that an organ had to be amputated from him to save his life. As the doctors couldn’t explain why it was happening to him, he looked to spiritual healers, paganism, and genealogy, which led him to learn about the experience of his relative who survived the Armenian genocide of 1915.
The memoir also challenges what people say caused their split. In an interview with Spain’s El País in January 2024, Vergara explained that the marriage ended because Manganiello wanted to have kids, while she refused to be “an old mom.”
Manganiello recounts in Bloodlines that they tried IVF without success, as well as talked about an egg donor; however, he rejected the idea due to the possibility that he would die, leaving Vergara to raise a kid “who wasn’t biologically hers.” According to Manganiello, people have made false claims about him before.
This isn’t the first time the ex-couple has offered opposing accounts of what happened. In a 2024 interview with Men’s Journal, he claimed they grew apart. Afterward, Vergara denied this version of their split in an interview with Variety, questioning the accuracy of her quotes.
Bubbles, Vergara’s dog, was a long-running joke. In talk show interviews, she often said the dog seemed predestined for her but chose to bond with Manganiello instead. She told Jimmy Fallon in 2021, “She hates me.” Manganiello kept the dog after the divorce.
Vergara and Manganiello separated in July 2023, ending their seven-year relationship. They divorced the following year.
Bloodlines is Manganiello’s second book, the first being a fitness guide called Evolution. He narrates the audiobook version of Bloodlines himself. He also hosts the reality competition Deal or No Deal Island.
As the actor says, the subsequent surgery restored his digestive system, and he is now symptom-free and no longer on meds. He is currently engaged to actor and model Caitlin O’Connor, 36, and moved from Los Angeles to his hometown of Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, just outside Pittsburgh. Manganiello says he is now ready for fatherhood.
“I can’t believe I’m alive,” he told People.
