“That’s never who I was”: Joe Manganiello Refutes Sofia Vergara’s Claim of What Drove Them to Divorce
- Sofia Vergara claimed that the reason for her divorce was Manganiello’s desire to have children.
- Manganiello publicly disagreed with Vergara's statements, and their divorce was due to growing apart.
- Vergara disagrees to reply back on Manganiello's comments, and both have moved on with their lives.
High-profile relationships in the entertainment world are always under constant media attention and public scrutiny. When a relationship comes to an end, it invites all sorts of speculations and rumors along with it, and Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello’s relationship was no exception.
Vergara has been married twice. Her first marriage was with her high school love, Joe Gonzalez, and the second one with Manganiello legally ended in April 2024. Although their split was not that dramatic, their different reasons for divorce make things a bit complicated.
Joe Manganiello Disagrees With Sofia Vergara’s Reasons for Divorce
Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello‘s love story began when they first met at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in May 2014. After dating for a few months, the former couple got engaged in December 2014, and by November 2015, they were married.
However, the couple shockingly announced their divorce in July 2023, citing irreconcilable differences. But in an interview with El País, Vergara said that she got divorced because Manganiello wanted kids.
My marriage broke up because my husband was younger; he wanted to have kids and I didn’t want to be an old mom. I feel it’s not fair to the baby. I respect whoever does it, but that’s not for me anymore.
Vergara is currently 52 years old, and Manganiello is 5 years younger than her. Although her reason sounds valid enough for their split, Manganiello completely disagrees with Vergara’s comments. While talking to Men’s Journal, he said,
It’s because two people grew apart, and sometimes that happens. To be painted as if I had some sort of midlife crisis, and after nine years, turned to somebody and gave them an ultimatum of, ‘Do this potentially unhealthy thing to your body, or else I’m gone?’ That’s never who I was.
Manganiello also revealed in the interview that he and Vergara had a conversation on this issue when they dated, and they also tried to “have a family for the first year and a half.” He also claimed to have consoled Vergara that it was “okay” if she was “done with kids.”
Manganiello said that Vergara’s comments were “simply not true.” He felt as if he was being painted as someone who was desperate to have a family. Although only the former couple knows the real reason behind their split, as of now, they stand by their version of events.
Sofía Vergara’s Response to Joe Manganiello’s Statements
Although Manganiello’s version of the story contradicts Vergara’s version, the actress doesn’t seem too interested in continuing their back-and-forth in public. In a recent interview with Variety, she said,
At the end of the day, you never even know if that’s what he said for real. I’ve read a lot of things that I’ve said that I’m like, ‘Huh?’ What am I gonna do, call him? I don’t know if he even said that.
Vergara seemed less bothered about Manganiello’s comments and also didn’t want to feed any more drama to the media for sure. On the other hand, Manganiello is still planning to become a father. On the Podcrushed podcast, he said that having kids is “definitely on the docket” at some point.
For now, it looks like the former couple has moved on with their lives. Manganiello is currently dating Caitlin O’Connor, and Vergara is dating her orthopedic surgeon, Justin Saliman.
