Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello divorce: What’s at stake, reason for split
Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello are worth millions of dollars. See what the Holltwood A-listers stand to lose in their divorce and the sad reason for their split.
Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello’s divorce is probably at a “more advanced stage” than people think, an expert says.
The couple confirmed they were divorcing after seven years of marriage with friends now saying Vergara’s love of alcohol and partying was behind the split.
High-profile lawyer Frederic J. Siegel — who is not representing either party and has no affiliation with the case — told Page Six that the duo will likely have a clean break financially.
The couple moved into a shared home in May 2015, six months before the couple tied the knot.
According to TMZ, she’s the one who purchased the seven-bedroom, 11,000-square-foot Beverly Hills pad for $US10.6 million ($A15.5million).
However, last July, the outlet reported that the pair put the fully renovated estate — equipped with a chef’s kitchen, gym, movie theatre and pool with a spa — on the market for nearly double the purchase price.
“She keeps what she has and what she earns, and he keeps what he has and what he’s earned,” Mr Siegel said.
“My belief is that they probably are at a more advanced stage [in their divorce] than people would think, because usually when people make the announcement like they made yesterday, they’ve already done some of the preliminary work.
“It doesn’t look like it’s messy — yet,” he adds.
“It’s a good sign when people issue the kind of statement that they did, saying that they wanted to do this amicably, but it doesn’t always work out that way.”
Vergara’s net worth in 2023 is estimated to be at least $US180 million ($A264 million), including nearly $A15million made from each season as a judge on America’s Got Talent, while Manganiello is worth $US40 million ($A58 million).
“I think both [Vergara and Manganiello] recognise the fact that if it’s a bad divorce, their careers can be put in jeopardy,” Mr Siegel said.
“It really doesn’t serve anybody. They’ve got very nice careers. They don’t want to be airing their dirty laundry in public.”
REAL REASON BEHIND DIVORCE
It comes as friends say Manganiello, who battled alcohol addiction in his early 20s, “found it challenging to be surrounded by potential temptation” and would often stay away from his wife when she went out in LA for parties, The Sun reports.
One insider revealed that Manganiello – who has been sober for 21 years and has been candid about his past struggles — was “warned” about getting into a serious relationship with someone who was not actively sober.
Business associates of Vergara also said that she had “effectively been living like a single woman for the last few months.”
“Sofia and Joe had a good run and managed to last longer than some within her friend circle suspected. One factor was absolutely their differing take on partying and enjoying a cocktail,” the source told The Sun.
“Sofia really enjoys cocktails and drinks with girlfriends. It is one of the way she lets her hair down. She has always been like that. She goes out to meet up with people at their homes and also host little soirees at her place. For Joe, that has become increasingly tough in recent years.
“He really worried that drinking alcohol again could send him spiralling, so he would always steer clear of temptation.
“Certainly in the past couple of years, she would be out alone as Joe just wanted to avoid issues. It was tough for him. Everyone was very understanding, but he encouraged Sofia to live her life and be happy.
“People around Sofia noted that they were increasingly not together and she was on her own a lot.”
Experts also said that relationships between a sober person and someone who still consumes alcohol rarely work out, no matter how “supportive” the person might be.
“No one overcomes addiction, sobriety is something that you need to work at every day of your life,” Katrina Patersen, an addiction specialist nurse from Texas, told the Daily Mail.
“It is a disease and when people close to you are exposing you to triggers it is going to make the fight to stay sober that much harder.
“For Joe and Sofia, it is not like a casual dinner with friends where someone has a drink and you do not. In a marriage, it is always in your face, and he was reminded of it constantly.
“That sort of stress and pressure will eventually build up and start affecting other areas of your daily life. Although two people don’t have to be sober to make a relationship with, they do need to have a firm and respectful boundary.”
SOFIA POSES IN SWIMSUIT AMID SPLIT
The Modern Family star celebrated her 51st birthday in Capri with a posse of friends, but rumours began to swirl after she was spotted without her husband or her wedding ring.
Vergara posted a series of sexy photos on Instagram, including shots of her in a one-piece swimsuit while staying at the Belmond Hotel on the Amalfi Coast.
Manganiello’s absence didn’t gone unnoticed by fans as Vergara later posted a photo with the message: “When life gives u lemons u come to Italy to squeeze them.”
The couple later confirmed the split in a joint statement.
“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,” the couple told Page Six in a statement.
A source added: “Sofia and Joe have been growing apart for a while now and are taking some distance from each other to contemplate their future.”
“At the start of Sofia’s big birthday trip those close to her were explaining away Joe’s absence with the excuse that he was busy filming back on the East Coast; that excuse barely held up due to the writers strike, but once the actor’s strike took effect, he could have been on the first flight … and he quite clearly is not,” another source told Page Six.
“So now no one out there with her is even attempting to pretend that it’s not over. It’s over. It’s done.”
Just days before the shock split, Manganiello, 46, raised eyebrows when he shared an oddly dry birthday greeting for his wife on social media.
“¡¡¡Feliz Cumpleaños Sofía!!!” the Magic Mike star wrote on the July 11 post, which simply translates to “Happy birthday Sofia.”
The couple wedded in a lavish Palm Beach ceremony in November 2015 in front of 400 guests — including Vergara’s Modern Family co-stars Ariel Winter, Ed O’Neill, Eric Stonestreet, Julie Bowen, Sarah Hyland and Ty Burrell, as well as Manganiello’s True Blood co-stars Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer.
Vergara and Manganiello don’t have any children together.
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Originally published as Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello divorce: What’s at stake, reason for split
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