Joe Manganiello says ex-wife Sofia Vergara saved his life during emergency surgery by authorizing organ 'amputation'

Joe Manganiello has revealed ex-wife Sofia Vergara saved his life by authorizing doctors to remove part of his intestines during an emergency surgery in 2016.

Manganiello, 49, who split from Vergara, 54, in July 2023 after seven years of marriage, has spoken openly about his battles with a painful autoimmune disease, which left him suicidal, in upcoming memoir Bloodlines.

After True Blood star Manganiello claimed in a previously released book excerpt that Vergara allegedly 'refused to hug him even when he begged' during his illness, he has now revealed she was the one who made a crucial surgical call for him.

Manganiello told People of his past condition: 'I was getting sicker and sicker' and likened his painful symptoms to a 'gremlin in the control room of my body flipping switches.'

In a new extract from Bloodlines, obtained by the publication on Thursday, Manganiello says Vergara was 'at his bedside' in hospital as his condition worsened.  

Before the surgery, the actor had been struck by excruciating abdominal pain, rashes, fevers, headaches and bleeding from the rectum, causing him to lose 60lbs over the next seven years. 

The emergency surgery ultimately resulted in what Manganiello called a 'life-saving organ amputation,' and he revealed Vergara made the call to proceed with the drastic measure while he was in surgery. 

The Daily Mail has contacted representatives for Vergara and Manganiello for comment and has yet to hear back.

This comes after Manganiello made incendiary claims about Vergara's alleged behavior during his seven-year battle with an autoimmune disease.  

He alleged the union became 'devoid of any emotionality whatsoever' as his illness took its toll.  

In an excerpt of the memoir, set for release on October 13 and obtained by People on Wednesday, Manganiello says his health began to go downhill shortly after his 2015 wedding to Vergara.

Manganiello, who believes he is 'lucky to be alive,' said pain medication usually prescribed for Crohn's disease and colitis did not work and he was 'forced' to turn to hydrocodone pills, fentanyl patches and marijuana, despite being sober for 13 years.

In the tome, Manganiello said his pain was so severe, he considered taking his own life in 2019, leading him to adopt his chihuahua, Bubbles. 

Manganiello claims as he desperately searched for treatment, his marriage became ‘devoid of any emotionality whatsoever’ and alleged Vergara 'refused to hug him even when he begged.' 

He also claimed Vergara ridiculed him over Bubbles.

'I had to give my gun away because I kept thinking about it, and then the dog came. I went from being the patient to the caretaker,' he said.

Manganiello also again refuted Vergara's prior claims to the Spanish publication El País that she and Manganiello called it quits because he wanted kids and she did not.

He claims his illness led him to giving up starting a family with Vergara after failed IVF attempts, which led them to consider egg donors, with the actor saying he 'didn’t want to die and leave Vergara with a child who wasn’t biologically hers.'

The Daily Mail previously contacted representatives for Vergara and Manganiello for comment and has yet to hear back. 

Vergara announced her divorce from Manganiello in July 2023.

Only two days after announcing their split, Manganiello filed for divorce and listed their date of separation as July 2.

The reason for the end of their marriage was cited as 'irreconcilable differences.'

However, in January 2024, Vergara told El País that she and Manganiello called it quits because he wanted kids and she did not. She is a mom to son Manolo, 35, who she welcomed during her first marriage to Joe Gonzalez, which ended in 1993.

'I didn’t want to be an old mom,' she said. 'I feel it’s not fair to the baby. I respect whoever does it, but that’s not for me anymore.'

She continued: 'I had a son at 19, who is now 32, and I’m ready to be a grandmother, not a mother. So, if love comes along, he has to come with [his own] children.'

Manganiello later disputed those claims in a Men's Journal article in July 2024.

'There’s been a lot said in the press about me wanting a family. That’s simply not true,' he told the publication. 'We did try to have a family for the first year and a half.'

Manganiello is now engaged to Caitlin O’Connor, 37, and the actor is open to starting a family with her, writing, 'If that’s meant for me. For seven years I thought I was going to be dead the next week. The world has opened back up to me.'

Manganiello credits his recovery to seeking alternative treatment – visiting a Santa Monica shaman, who told him generational trauma was to blame due to his great-grandmother losing nine of her children in the Armenian genocide.

He is now off medication and no longer in pain after undergoing surgery to reconnect his digestive tract. 

In June, Manganiello first revealed the debilitating 'deadly mystery illness' that afflicted him in recent years and led to a 'life-saving organ amputation.'

In an Instagram video, the Magic Mike actor revealed that the treatments he was prescribed for the illness, which he has not yet disclosed, had their own 'brutal side effects.'

He also clarified just how private he kept his illness, saying that he 'suffered in silence, battling a deadly mystery illness' while only sharing the details with a small group of people closest to him.

Manganiello battled crushing uncertainty, as he was left without answers about what set off his health issues despite seeing 'the best doctors in the world.'

'All their attempts to treat it with high-powered biological drugs only exacerbated my symptoms and then unlocked a host of brutal side effects that winded up plaguing me for years,' he continued.

If you or someone you know needs help, please call or text the confidential 24/7 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline in the US on 988. There is also an online chat available at 988lifeline.org