Joe Manganiello Shuts Down 'Simply Not True' Narrative of What Led to His Divorce From Sofia Vergara

Joe Manganiello may have been keeping it fairly quiet regarding his recent divorce from Sofia Vergara, but the True Blood actor is ready to tell his side of the story.

While the Modern Family alum has mentioned the split in interviews throughout the year, Manganiello has seemingly been tight-lipped regarding the details of his failed marriage—something he's finally opening up about in an all-encompassing interview with Men's Journal.

The Magic Mike actor broke his silence on the tough situation in a cover article published on Tuesday, July 16, aiming to dispel the "simply not true" narrative surrounding the reason he and Vergara decided to go their separate ways.

In Jan. 2024, the Four Brothers actress spoke with Spanish newspaper El País, alleging that the breakup was ultimately due to the fact that Manganiello—who's five years her junior—wanted children and she "didn't want to be an old mom," however, the 47-year-old says that was not the case, as he shared the duo "did try to have a family for the first year and a half."

"We had a huge conversation right out of the gate during the first month we dated," he explained. "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.”

Related: Sofía Vergara Reflects on Her 'Very Difficult' Year After Joe Manganiello Split

The former couple met in 2014 at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner before tying the knot in 2015. After spending nearly a decade together, they announced their split in July 2023.

Manganiello expressed to Men's Journal that the most hurtful part of the ordeal is the way the split has been talked about by his ex-wife, as he insists that having kids “wasn't inevitably why everything ended."

"It's because two people grew apart, and sometimes that happens,” he said. “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.”

As for how he has navigated all the publicity surrounding the divorce, the Deal or No Deal Island host referred to his current journey as "a third phase to my career and life.”

He has since moved on with girlfriend Caitlin O'Connor, while Vergara has found a new relationship of her own with Justin Saliman.

Next: Joe Manganiello Debuts Hair Transformation Following Sofia Vergara Split