Sofía Vergara got extremely candid about what caused her and Joe Manganiello to part ways.
During an interview with Spanish newspaper El País earlier this month, Vergara, 51, was asked the reason why her marriage ended.
“Well, I’m newly divorced from my second husband, who I was with for 10 years. My marriage broke up because my husband was younger,” she revealed. “He wanted to have kids and I didn’t want to be an old mom.”
Vergara said she didn’t have plans to have any more children while Manganiello, 47, wanted to experience parenthood. (The actress welcomed son Manolo in 1991 with then-husband Joe Gonzalez. The former couple called it quits two years later.)
“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.”
Despite her second marriage coming to an end, Vergara said she is optimistic about the future, adding, “So, if love comes along, he has to come with [his own] children. I’m almost in menopause, it’s the natural way of things. When my son becomes a dad, let him bring the baby to me for a while and then I’ll give it back to him and go on with my life. That’s what I have to do.”
Vergara and Manganiello previously remained tight-lipped about what caused their split. Us Weekly confirmed in July 2023 that Manganiello filed to end their marriage.
“We have made the difficult decision to divorce,” they said in a joint statement, days before the actor officially filed the paperwork. “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.”
A source later told Us that Vergara and Manganiello were no longer “on the same page” about their relationship. “She would rather go out with friends and he would rather stay home, so they wouldn’t spend a lot of time together,” the insider explained. “They’ve been living separate lives for about a year now, so it was time to call things off.”
Manganiello has since moved on with Caitlin O’Connor and the couple made their red carpet debut in December 2023.
“Joe and Caitlin are both so easygoing that they work really well together,” a second source exclusively told Us. “She’s not a big drinker or a party girl.”
A separate insider noted that “marriage isn’t out of the question” for Manganiello, who “definitely wants kids” down the line.
Vergara, for her part, was spotted having dinner in Beverly Hills with orthopedic surgeon Justin Saliman in October 2023. Their connection has since fizzled out with Vergara recently confirming her single status during an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
As she promotes her new Netflix series Griselda, Vergara has been asked about her high-profile divorce, but she doesn’t seem to mind. “You’re out there and people know that’s part of being a celebrity,” Vergara said on the January 14 episode of CBS Sunday Morning. “I knew it was gonna happen. You can’t hide those things.”
At the time, Vergara admitted she was “surprised” by how the news was covered, sharing, “It wasn’t bad. I think, you know, I have to say the press was very respectful and very nice. … They kind of just said what it was and, and that was it. And, you know, I’ve been moving on.”
