Joe Manganiello refutes Sofía Vergara’s claim that he ‘desperately’ wanted kids

Joe Manganiello is opening up about his side of the story following his divorce from Sofía Vergara.

The ‘True Blood’ alum, who separated from Vergara in February, refuted her claim that their split was “inevitably” due to differing desires about having children.

In a new interview with Men’s Journal, the 47-year-old actor clarified the real reasons behind their separation.“[That] wasn’t inevitably why everything ended,” Manganiello stated.

“It’s because two people grew apart, and sometimes that happens.”

The 47-year-old actor acknowledged that they did attempt to start a family during the first year and a half of their marriage. Manganiello also recalled having an honest conversation about kids when they began dating in 2014. “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,’” he remembered.

“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.”

Sofía Vergara said she ‘didn’t want to be an old mom’
However, Vergara told El País in January, “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 also told People in May, “I was a mother already. I know what it means to be a good mother or to try to be the best mother that you can, and that takes a lot of sacrifices, takes a lot of energy.”

Manganiello expressed his frustration with Vergara’s narrative during his conversation with Men’s Journal. “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,” he said.

However, an insider told Page Six that Manganiello always wanted to be a father, and his desire for children only intensified over the years.

The couple announced their separation in July 2023 after seven years of marriage. They said in a joint statement, “We have made the difficult decision to divorce. 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.”