When Sofía Vergara and Joe Manganiello announced their divorce in July 2023, fans were shocked at their split. The actors had been married for seven years, and their relationship seemed solid based on the Griselda star's social media updates. Folks soon learned the reason for their breakup, according to Sofía—but Joe recently shared his side of things.
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To recap, Joe and Sofía first met in 2014 when her Modern Family costar, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, introduced them at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner. Joe proposed that December, and they tied the knot in November 2015. So, what happened between them?
Sofía Vergara previously opened up about why the marriage ended.
In January 2024, Sofía spoke with Spanish newspaper El Pais about why she and Joe divorced.
"My marriage broke up because my husband was younger; he wanted to have kids and I didn’t want to be an old mom," she told the newspaper. "I feel it’s not fair to the baby. I respect whoever does it, but that’s not for me anymore."
But Joe Manganiello gave a different reason for his divorce from Sofía.
In an interview with Men's Journal published on July 16, Joe refuted Sofía's claims about kids being the reason for their divorce.
"We did try to have a family for the first year and a half. And we had a huge conversation right out of the gate during the first month we dated," he told the publication. "I said, 'If you're done with kids, then I understand. Just tell me, and I'll know what this is, and that's okay.' But that wasn't the case with her. And I swore to her that I would never leave if it didn't work out. And I didn't."
Joe added that they broke up because 'two people grew apart.'
"It's because two people grew apart, and sometimes that happens," Joe told Men's Journal.
He added: "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."
In July 2023, they announced their split in a joint statement.
On July 17, 2023, Sofía and Joe released a joint statement announcing their divorce. "We have made the difficult decision to divorce," they announced, reported Page Six. "As two people that love and care for one another very much, we politely ask for respect of our privacy at this time as we navigate this new phase of our lives."
Sofía said she expected the media attention following their divorce announcement.
On January 14, Sofía opened up about the media reaction to her and Joe's divorce during an interview with CBS Sunday Morning. "You’re out there, and people know that's part of being a celebrity," she said. "I knew it was gonna happen. You can’t hide those things."
Sofía was actually pleasantly surprised by how the news was covered.
"I have to say the press was very respectful and very nice. And I thought that they were gonna invent more things, and you know how it usually is," she explained. "I was surprised and, you know, they, they kind of just said what it was and, and that was it."
Both Joe and Sofía have moved on and are dating other people.
In December 2023, Joe went Instagram official with his girlfriend Caitlin O’Connor. They reportedly moved in together by February.
Meanwhile, Sofía has been romantically linked to orthopedic surgeon Justin Saliman since October 2023.
