Joe Manganiello: ‘For seven years I thought I was going to be dead the next week’

Joe Manganiello has opened up about the seven-year illness that left him fearing he was going to die.

Manganiello, 49, wrote about his struggles in his forthcoming memoir, Bloodlines, and how the autoimmune illness led to “major organ amputation.” He also shared the impact of the illness on his marriage to Sofía Vergara. The two married in 2015 and filed for divorce in 2023.

Speaking to People about the ordeal, the True Blood star said: “I can’t believe I’m alive. I feel like I was reborn.

“For seven years I thought I was going to be dead the next week. The world has opened back up to me.”

Manganiello began feeling ill shortly after his 2015 wedding to Vergara, suffering from abdominal pain, fevers, rashes, fatigue and headaches. Between then and 2022, he lost 60 pounds and had multiple surgeries, all due to autoimmune disease.

He was prescribed medications to manage nerve pain and treat Crohn’s and colitis, but “none of them worked on me,” he said. To ease the pain, he relied on hydrocodone pills, fentanyl patches and marijuana. But that led to him grappling with his 13 years of sobriety.

“I didn’t feel like I deserved to say that I was sober,” he said, “[but] I had to put the pain and the condition first.”

Manganiello’s condition caused a rift in his marriage, which he said in the memoir had “become devoid of any emotionality whatsoever.” In the book, he claimed Vergara refused to hug him, People reported.

The marriage hit another speed bump, he said, over having kids. Failed IVF attempts had the couple considering an egg donor. But Manganiello said he didn’t want to die and leave the Modern Family star with a child “who wasn’t biologically hers.”

The Modern Family alum, meanwhile, told Spanish newspaper El País at the time of their breakup that their split had stemmed from the Magic Mike actor wanting a child, while she did not. Manganiello later disputed that claim in a July 2024 interview with Men’s Journal.

“There were things said and printed about me that were false,” he told People.

The Independent has contacted a representative for Vergara for comment.

Ultimately, Manganiello sought help beyond traditional medicine. He believes his healing came from a shaman in Santa Monica who said the illness was connected to Manganiello’s generational trauma.

“Whatever chains there were to the past suffering of my ancestors, they were completely broken. There’s not an ounce of fear in me about moving forward with my life,” he said.

Manganiello told People he is now symptom-free and off medications. He’s engaged to Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty actor Caitlin O’Connor and the two recently left Los Angeles in favor of their native Pennsylvania.