Modern Family is one of the best comedy shows of the last decade. Among the show’s cast, one of the stars is synonymous with her character Gloria Pritchett, aka Sofía Vergara. Known for her accent and dialect, she was a regular on the show married to Jay Pritchett and has a son from her previous marriage, Manny Delgado. Sofia’s life was similar to her character in Modern Family in a few ways. Sofia Vergara became a mother in her late teens and raised him as a single mother before meeting Joe in 2014. After she garnered fame with Modern Family her love life became well-known as well. The actress stayed in a long relationship with Joe Manganiello from 2014 to 2024. The duo announced plans to divorce in July 2023, which was later finalized in April 2024. The seven-year-old marriage ended also breaking the hearts of many fans.
Sofia and Joe reportedly met for the first time in May 2014 during the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. They met through actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson, but at the time Vergara was engaged to Nick Loeb. However, it did not last long as only a few weeks later she announced her break up with Loeb. According to reports, the break-up also prompted Manganiello to ask Vergara out. While she wasn’t ready to date any time soon, he won her heart, leading to a decade-long relationship.
Manganiello later told PEOPLE in 2020 that he knew she was the one. He said, “I knew pretty quickly that I could trust her, and she knew pretty quickly that she could trust me.” “And we’re both the kind of people who are capable of putting the other person ahead of ourselves. I was capable of putting her wishes ahead of mine, whatever they were, and she was capable of doing the same. Once you have that, you don’t let go of it,” he added.
May 3, 2014 – Meet for The First Time
Back in 2014, he also recalled their first interaction at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. The actor said that “There was a picture someone snapped at the White House Correspondents’ dinner where they caught me looking at Sofía Vergara’s butt.” He also explained that it wasn’t his intention to interact with Sofia as she was engaged. “When you talk about being manipulated, that’s what I’m talking about. It’s like a moment of Zen. There is nothing in my brain. If only I could meditate that well. I don’t go after other people’s women. She’s got a guy. If she was single, I would be like, poof!”
Nonetheless, Sofia announced her split. A source told PEOPLE that the pair had been “on rocky grounds” for a while.
June 2014, Joe Asks for Sofia’s Number
In June 2014, Joe got in touch with Tyler Ferguson for Sofia’s number. Tyler talked about the interaction and revealed, “When she broke up with her fiancé at the time, Joe — like, immediately, the moment it was out in the world — called me and was, like: ‘I need her number.’ And then I called Sofía and I was, like, ‘Can I give Joe your number?’ And she was, like, ‘Ay, no!’ … but like, wanting me to give the number: ‘Oh no, you go ahead, okay, okay.’ And so I did the number exchange and he took over from there.”
June To December 2014 – First Date to Proposal
In June the two were seen going on their first date and made their relationship public in August 2014. According to reports, soon enough in November they also moved in together. Joe proposed in December of the same year. Recalling the proposal he told Haute Living, “Our first date was in June, and then I proposed to her on Christmas Eve; [we dated for] about six months. When you know, you know, and we knew right away — like, very quickly.”
“We had this big bay window [that I opened up], and the sun was going down pink over the mountains and over the bay, and I had this ring. I had looked at every ring in the world, and this is the ring that I wanted. I had a whole speech prepared in Spanish. I proposed to her on one knee in Spanish with the sun going down. It was awesome.”
November 22, 2015: Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello Get Married
The duo got married at Breakers Resort in Palm Beach, Florida. Sofia wore a stunning Zuhair Murad gown, while Joe was seen in a classic black tuxedo. The event was small with 350 guests were in attendance including the cast of Modern Family and True Blood. The newlyweds chose Frank Sinatra’s “The Way You Look Tonight” for their first dance.
April 2018 – Joe reveals how he knew Sofia was The One
During an interaction on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, Manganiello revealed the moment he “knew right away” that Vergara was the one for him. He revealed that he visited her set of a movie in New Orleans and brought her the 2014 Hottest Hollywood Bachelor issue of PEOPLE which had him on the cover.
Recalling the banter they had at the time, he added, “I said, ‘I know you just got out of this long-term relationship, and if you need to be single then I understand. Like, I’m not gonna like it, but I’ll get over it … But before you answer, I wanna show you something.” He gave her the magazine and he told her, “Número uno!”
“She picked up the magazine, she opened it up and I saw that she was flipping by my interview and I said, ‘What are you doing?’ And she said, ‘I’m seeing who else is on the list.,” he concluded.
May, 2020 – Sofía Vergara on Quarantining with Joe Manganiello
Vergara opened up about staying indoors with Manganiello during the pandemic and said, “Actually, we’ve been very good. It’s like we haven’t got under each other’s skins.” She added that the two haven’t had any fights yet, “We can’t complain, actually. We’re all staying at home. I have a big house so I’ve been able to have my son, my niece, my husband and three dogs. We’ve been lucky that we’ve been able to be comfortable.”
November 22, 2022: Duo Celebrates Seventh Wedding Anniversary
While the duo didn’t share pictures from their yearly celebration, they shared a throwback from their wedding photos. It also included pictures from a lavish party which saw a performance by Pitbull among hundreds of guests.
July 2023 – Couple Files for Divorce
A source close to the couple told PEOPLE that there is “no drama” between the two. By September, Joe had confirmed that the was dating actress Caitlin O’Connor and by November Sofia was dating an orthopaedic surgeon Justin Saliman. Reports revealed that the actress asked the court to uphold their prenup and that certain assets would remain with her.
Last, in an interview with Spanish newspaper El País, Vergara revealed that the reason she and Manganiello called it quits was because he wanted kids. The actress said, “My marriage broke up because my husband was younger; he wanted to have kids and I didn’t want to be an old mom. I feel it’s not fair to the baby. I respect whoever does it, but that’s not for me anymore.”
April 5, 2024: Sofía Vergara and Joe Manganiello finalize their Divorce
According to documents obtained by the portal PEOPLE, both stars agreed to divide their assets per their prenuptial agreement.
