Joe Manganiello Details Health Battle and Dragon Tattoo in New Memoir

Joe Manganiello has revealed an extensive dragon tattoo designed to cover scars from a seven-year battle with a mysterious autoimmune disease. The actor, 49, shared images of the colorful tattoo, which extends from his torso to his knee, on Instagram.

In an excerpt from his new memoir, Bloodlines, Manganiello explained that the tattoo symbolizes his effort to reclaim agency after his illness. "The idea to cover my surgery scars with my first tattoo, a three-foot dragon down my right side, was my effort to take back what little agency I felt that I had, and to signal to my body to stop attacking the dragon… because the (eastern) dragon was me…" he wrote.

This revelation follows Manganiello's earlier disclosure of a life-threatening health crisis that began shortly after his 2015 wedding to Sofia Vergara. The actor described experiencing excruciating abdominal pain, rashes, fevers, headaches, and rectal bleeding, which led to a 60-pound weight loss over seven years. He underwent emergency surgery to remove a portion of his intestines, a procedure he described as a "life-saving organ amputation."

Manganiello's memoir also details his struggles with pain management, including turning to medication and marijuana despite being sober for 13 years. He recounted considering suicide in 2019, an experience that led him to adopt his chihuahua, Bubbles.

According to the memoir, Manganiello claims his marriage to Vergara became "devoid of any emotionality whatsoever" during his illness. He alleged that Vergara refused to hug him and ridiculed him over his dog. He also refuted Vergara's prior public statements that their split was due to his desire for children, which she did not share. Manganiello stated that his illness led him to reconsider starting a family, expressing a desire not to leave Vergara with a child who was not biologically hers after failed IVF attempts.

Vergara's son, Manolo Gonzalez Vergara, later shared a post on Instagram comparing "good men" to "narcissistic men," which his mother reshared with a comment advising against dealing with narcissists, suggesting that their actions are never enough and they always try to portray others as the "bad guy." Manganiello filed for divorce in 2023, citing "irreconcilable differences." He and Vergara were married in 2015 and separated in July 2023.