Joe Manganiello is pulling back the curtain on a harrowing seven-year health battle that nearly killed him — and reshaped every corner of his life.
The actor details his undiagnosed autoimmune illness in his debut memoir, Bloodlines, released in October 2026. In the book, Manganiello recounts collapsing on a Wilmington, North Carolina, film set in 2016 and needing emergency surgery to remove his entire large intestine before a grueling recovery.
While Manganiello never received a formal diagnosis, the former True Blood star he’s now symptom-free and no longer takes medications.
Keep scrolling to learn more about his private health battle:
Joe Manganiello Describes the Night His Large Intestine Ruptured
Manganiello’s symptoms began in 2016, not long after his 2015 wedding to no-ex Sofía Vergara.
“My entire large intestine had turned to pus and was about to explode,” Manganiello wrote in an excerpt obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. “Had they not cut me open that morning, it would have ruptured, and I would have died immediately of sepsis.”
Doctors performed emergency surgery to remove his entire large intestine and create a stoma—an opening in his abdomen—connecting his small intestine to an external ostomy bag.
Joe Manganiello Battled His Unexplained Illness for Years
A Bloodlines summary reveals that Manganiello’s “body began to fail him” without warning, triggering “a cascade of autoimmune-related illnesses.” He endured chronic pain amid “a prolonged fight for survival,” during which doctors had “few answers and no clear explanation.”
“I can’t believe I’m alive,” Manganiello told People in October 2026. “[Autoimmune] conditions are a dumping ground for things [doctors] don’t understand.”
He also shared hospital photos on Instagram on October 15, 2026.
“In the days following the amputation of my large intestine, my weight began to plummet,” he captioned his upload. “I would ultimately lose a total of 60 [pounds] during the two weeks following the surgery.”
Manganiello also lost 60 pounds and navigated multiple skin conditions, adding, “My skin, an immune organ, was stricken with just about every condition known to man, usually in combination.”
The Reality of Life With an Ostomy Bag
In his memoir, Manganiello revealed he used an ostomy bag following his first procedure. At one point, the bag leaked during a flight to London for a costume fitting, which forced him to change the bag in the airplane bathroom.
Joe Manganiello Alleges Sofia Vergara Refused to Hug Him During His Illness
Manganiello and Vergara married in 2015, separated in 2023 and finalized their divorce in 2024. In Bloodlines, he writes that their marriage had “become devoid of any emotionality whatsoever” during his illness and alleges Vergara refused to hug him when he asked for an embrace.
Even so, the actor also credited Vergara with making the “brutal but life-saving decision” to proceed with the surgery that saved him.
This story was compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists.
