Sofia Vergara Reveals Real Reason for Divorce From Joe Manganiello

Sofia Vergara is speaking candidly about the reason for her divorce from husband Joe Manganiello. The Griselda actress, 51, opened up to Spanish-language newspaper El País this week about the upcoming release of her Netflix series, giving the reason behind the end of her marriage of seven years to the Magic Mike actor, 47.

After Manganiello filed for divorce in July citing irreconcilable differences, Vergara told the publication that it came down to their difference in age and their feelings about having children. Vergara is mom to 32-year-old son Manolo with ex-husband Joe Gonzalez, while Manganiello does not have any children of his own. “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 candidly. “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. I’m almost in menopause; it’s the natural way of things.” The Modern Family actress added, “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 has just recently begun to talk about her split openly, telling CBS Sunday Morning this week that she expected the media coverage of her divorce to be nonstop before announcing the end of her marriage. “I’ve been moving on. You’re out there [in the public eye] and people know that’s part of being a celebrity,” the America’s Got Talent judge shared. “I knew it was gonna happen. You can’t hide those things.”

However, the Emmy-nominated actress admitted that the media’s coverage of her divorce has ended up being very accurate, which made it easier to “overcome” the difficult time. “It wasn’t bad,” she said. “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.”