Sofía Vergara Reveals Reason Behind Joe Manganiello Divorce

In an interview with Spanish newspaper El País, the actress opened up about her split from Manganiello, claiming the former couple called it quits after seven years of marriage because they disagreed about having kids.

"My marriage broke up because my husband was younger; he wanted to have kids and I didn't want to be an old mom," Vergara said, according to a translation. "I feel it's not fair to the baby. I respect whoever does it, but that's not for me anymore."

"I had a son at 19, who is now 32," she added, referring to her son Manolo, whom she shares with her ex-husband Joe Gonzalez. "And I'm ready to be a grandmother, not a mother. So, if love comes along, he has to come with [his own] children."

The Modern Family alum -- who turned 51 in July -- noted that she's "almost in menopause," which begins for most women between the ages of 45 and 55.

"It's the natural way of things," Vergara explained. "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, 47, announced they were going their separate ways in July 2023.

"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," they said at the time.

Manganiello soon filed for divorce, citing "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for their split.

The pair, who met at the White House Correspondents Dinner back in May 2014 and started dating shortly after, share no children. They were engaged by December of the same year and were married in November 2015.

While speaking about her divorce with CBS Sunday Morning earlier this month, Vergara said she was bracing for the media scrutiny surrounding her divorce.

"I've been moving on. You're out there [in the public eye] and people know that's part of being a celebrity," she shared. "I knew it was gonna happen. You can't hide those things.”

However, Vergara said she was pleasantly surprised with the coverage of her divorce, admitting it ended up being accurate, which helped her through the difficult period.

"It wasn’t bad. I think, you know, I have to say the press was very respectful and very nice. And I thought that they were gonna invent more things, and you know how it usually is. I was surprised and, you know, they, they kind of just said what it was and, and that was it."