Joe Manganiello’s long-hidden health battle is changing how people remember his marriage to Sofía Vergara.

The actor has revealed that he spent years battling a mysterious autoimmune illness that he says nearly killed him, while the strain of that ordeal also affected his marriage. Now, as he opens up about the experience, his account adds a new layer to a split that had previously been explained very differently.

Joe Manganiello and Sofía Vergara announced their split in 2023 and finalized their divorce in 2024, but Manganiello’s upcoming memoir, “Bloodlines,” offers his account of the health struggles he says shaped those final years of their marriage.

Joe Manganiello Faced A Seven-Year Health Battle That Nearly Took His Life

Shortly after marrying Vergara in 2015, Manganiello’s life changed when he began to fall ill in a way he could not explain. This was followed by seven years of increasingly debilitating symptoms, repeated procedures of varying kinds, and a desperate search for answers as his condition continued to impact his life.

The actor said the illness left him “getting sicker and sicker” as doctors tried different treatments without finding a definitive diagnosis. Over the course of those seven years, he lost 60 pounds, underwent countless colonoscopies, and had part of his intestines removed during an emergency surgery in 2016.

Manganiello was eventually forced to confront not only the physical toll of the illness but also the uncertainty surrounding it. “It happened to me, and it’s the truth, and I have all the scars to prove it,” he said. He later summed up the ordeal with a simple admission: “I can’t believe I’m alive,” adding, “I feel like I was reborn.”

As the health battle dragged on, the strain began reaching beyond Manganiello’s physical well-being and into his marriage to Vergara. In “Bloodlines,” he claims the relationship had “become devoid of any emotionality whatsoever” as he spent years moving between hospitals and searching for answers.

Manganiello also alleges that Vergara refused to hug him when he asked for comfort during his illness. He further claims that she ridiculed his decision to adopt Bubbles, a sick five-pound chihuahua he brought home in 2019 while he was struggling with his health.

PEOPLE reported that Manganiello has described the dog as a turning point during that difficult period, saying, “I had to give my gun away because I kept thinking about it, and then the dog came.”

He added, “I went from being the patient to the caretaker,” describing how caring for Bubbles gave him a different role while he battled his own illness.

With conventional treatment failing to provide the answers he needed, Manganiello began looking beyond the usual medical path. The actor said the experience pushed him to examine his family history, spirituality, and the possibility that something deeper could be connected to what he was going through.

In a video shared on Instagram, Manganiello explained why the experience eventually became the foundation for “Bloodlines.” “Maybe what happened to me wasn’t random,” he said, describing how he spent years tracing his family history and opening himself up to ideas outside conventional medicine.

The Blast reported that Manganiello ultimately explored what he called “really radical and unorthodox techniques and ideas that lie beyond the boundaries of Western medicine.”

He said, “And that in order to heal, my mind, my body, my spirit all had to align,” adding another dimension to the health battle that had already placed enormous pressure on his life.

The Divorce Was Not Simply About Having Children

As Manganiello continued searching for answers about the end of his marriage, he also pushed back against the idea that the relationship fell apart simply because Vergara did not want more children.

The Blast reported that Manganiello disputed that explanation, saying the couple had actually discussed their plans for a family early in their relationship. Manganiello explained that they had tried to start a family during the first year and a half of their marriage, but ultimately grew apart.

“The divorce happened because two people grew apart, and sometimes that happens,” he said, making clear that he did not view the split as the result of a single disagreement. His comments also directly addressed Vergara’s earlier explanation that their different views about having children contributed to the breakup.

Manganiello rejected the idea that he had suddenly changed his mind years into their marriage, saying, “There were things said and printed about me that were false.” That account adds another layer to the story as his memoir now revisits the difficult period surrounding the end of their marriage.

Joe Manganiello Is Ready To Build A New Future With Caitlin O’Connor

The divorce chapter may have closed, but Manganiello’s journey toward a new marriage was already taking shape. After pushing back against the narrative surrounding his split from Vergara, the actor built a relationship that quickly became serious with Caitlin O’Connor.

The Blast reported that Manganiello and O’Connor’s connection grew from their shared Pittsburgh roots, with a source describing their relationship as having a “sweet hometown feel.”

The couple had been discussing their future before Manganiello proposed, and they initially kept the engagement private so they could enjoy the moment away from the spotlight.

That privacy also appeared to fit the couple’s approach as their relationship progressed. It was reported that Manganiello and O’Connor began living together after his divorce settlement, and the actor later confirmed their engagement publicly, referring to O’Connor as his fiancée.