Joe Manganiello Credits Ex-Wife Sofia Vergara with Saving His Life During Emergency Surgery

Joe Manganiello has shared that his ex-wife Sofia Vergara was instrumental in saving his life during an emergency surgery in 2016, authorizing doctors to remove a portion of his intestines. The 49-year-old actor detailed his struggles with a severe autoimmune disease in his upcoming memoir, "Bloodlines," which has also brought to light past difficulties in his marriage to Vergara.

Manganiello told People magazine that his health deteriorated significantly prior to the surgery. He described experiencing excruciating abdominal pain, rashes, fevers, headaches, and rectal bleeding, which over seven years led to a 60-pound weight loss. The emergency surgery, which he referred to as a "life-saving organ amputation," was a critical turning point, with Vergara making the decision to proceed while he was incapacitated.

This revelation comes amid earlier excerpts from his memoir where Manganiello alleged that his marriage to Vergara, which ended in July 2023 after seven years, became "devoid of any emotionality whatsoever" as his illness progressed. He claimed Vergara "refused to hug him even when he begged" during this difficult period. Manganiello also disputed Vergara's previous statements that their separation was due to his desire for children, which she did not share.

According to Manganiello, his health began to decline shortly after his 2015 wedding to Vergara. Standard pain medications proved ineffective, forcing him to rely on substances that he feared would compromise his sobriety. The severity of his pain even led him to consider suicide in 2019, an experience that prompted him to adopt his chihuahua, Bubbles, shifting his focus from patient to caregiver.

He also refuted Vergara's assertion to El País that their divorce stemmed from his desire to start a family. Manganiello stated they had attempted to conceive for the first year and a half of their marriage and considered donor eggs, but his illness led him to decide against leaving Vergara with a child not biologically his own. Vergara, who has a 35-year-old son from a previous marriage, had told El País that she did not want to be an older mother and was ready to be a grandmother.

Manganiello is now engaged to Caitlin O’Connor, 37, and expressed openness to starting a family with her, noting that after years of fearing for his life, "the world has opened back up." He credits his recovery to alternative treatments, including consulting a shaman who suggested generational trauma might be a factor. He has since undergone surgery to reconnect his digestive tract and is now off medication and pain-free.

In June, Manganiello had first disclosed his "debilitating 'deadly mystery illness'" that necessitated a life-saving organ amputation. He mentioned that prescribed treatments had severe side effects and that he had largely kept his battle private, suffering in silence despite consulting numerous doctors. He stated that medical professionals were unable to identify the cause of his health issues, and their treatments only worsened his symptoms.