When Modern Family's breakout star Sofia Vergara, 51, and heartthrob Joe Manganiello, 46, of Magic Mike fame got together in 2014, fans couldn't help but swoon over the beautiful A-List couple who seemed like they were the perfect fit.
Which made it all the more heartbreaking when they split in July, 2023!
On the heels of that announcement, another Joe (Jonas) and Sophia (Turner) are "amicably ending our marriage."
It's hard not to get swept up in the celebrity couple chaos, and this summer has been a scorcher...when it comes to scorched earth!
Joe and Sofia Sucked Into "The Summer of Celebrity Break Ups"!
From Ariana Grande, 30, allegedly being the other woman to blame for Wicked co-star Ethan Slater's, 31, divorce...to Natalie Portman being left for the other woman (if Natalie is being cheated on, what does this mean for the rest of us). Like global warming and the rising climates...the celebrity breakups are at an all-time high this summer!
Some of the celeb splits are surprising and some less surprising.
Joe Jonas, 34, and Sophie Turner, 27, after only four years of marriage...Depends on who you ask.
When Yellowstone's Kevin Costner, 68, split with wife of 18 years, Christine Baumgartner, 49? Surprising!
When the recently "freed" Britney Spears, 41, split with her fourth husband of 14 months, Sam Asghari, 29? Less surprising.
All these celebrity breakups unofficially dubbed Summer 2023, "the summer of breakups."
Many of us could handle Taylor Swift, 33, ending her 6-year relationship with Joe Alwyn, 32, ahead of her Eras World Tour. That's a whole lot of globe-trotting and you can't keep a good woman down, right?
But when the summer of breakups claimed Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello?
It was a sucker punch!
While we hope it's not true when they say all good things must come to an end, it did when it comes to Joe and Sofia.
It's an excellent reminder that even though relationships may not always last forever, it doesn't mean love can't change us for forever and for the better.
How Joe and Sofia Hit It Off? With A Little Help From Her "Modern Family," Of Course
As far as "Celebrity Couples" are concerned? They need to get a new agent because they don't have the best rep this summer.
But were we crazy to have fallen for Sofia and Joe? Was it naive to believe they could be each other's forever person?
It seemed like the couple of seven years took a page out of Jay-Z and Beyonce's book and were pretty crazy in love.
However, sometimes that isn't always enough, and that's ok.
We get older and our brain wiser – and sometimes our hearts get tougher! While heartbreak can hurt like hell, don't kick yourself for having believed that life with your ex made it a little bit better –because, at one time, it might have.
"I really do believe that we were put on the planet to be with each other."
- Joe Manganiello
As fate would have it, Joe met the Columbia bombshell and sitcom star at a pretty serious event!
The America's Got Talent judge and the True Blood star first met at the White House Correspondents' Association dinner in May 2014.
At the time, Vergara was engaged to her then-fiancé, Nick Loeb, but it was clear Joe had his eyes on the...prize?
Fans could not get enough of a now-hilarious candid photo, snapping Joe checking out Sofia behind her back (literally).
Thankfully, Sofia's family had her back's back! Her Modern Familyco-star that is.
After news of broke that Vergara had called of her engagement to Loeb just weeks after first crossing paths with Manganiello, the Sicilian hunk jumped at the chance to reintroduce himself, and he knew just the man for the job.
Joe Manganiello Asks Jesse Tyler Ferguson for Sofia Vergara's Number
Joe enlisted the help of Sofia's close pal and co-star, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, 47.
Ferguson plays Gloria's (Sofia Vergara) adult step-son: the straight-laced Mitchell Pritchett on ABC's Hit Show Modern Family.
Joe knew what he wanted and wasn't afraid to show it!
"When [Sofia] 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 Sofia 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."
- Jesse Tyler Ferguson, The Late Late Show with James Corden
"Hollywood's Hottest Bachelor" flew out to New Orleans to take Sofia on their first date. Sofia was on location filming her Buddy Comedy Hot Pursuit alongside Reese Witherspoon.
"I said, 'I'm coming to New Orleans. If you're not available, I'm just gonna do some sightseeing, but I'm gonna be there and if you're free I can take you out. She said, 'You're crazy.' I said, 'I'll see you next week.' "
- Joe Managiello, The Jess Cagle Show
After that, it was a whirlwind romance to remember.
Joe and Sofia knew what they wanted and weren't afraid to shout it from the rooftops...or at least, in their instagram captions.
"You know I'm just having a great time", Vergara says in 2014 of her relationship, "it's a special time in my life and I'm trying not to think too much about it. It's something very new so we will see what happens."
What happened next was to the tune of "Here Comes the Bride."
Sofia and Joe Marry Just 6 Months Into Dating
Look at them! It's hard not to melt when you see them together.
Even though Joe and Sofia declared their divorce July 17, 2023 with a joint statement, it's clear that at one point the pair really were in love.
Aside from their incessantly sweet Instagram tributes to one another...the caption on Vergara's snapshot of her ex-husband below did not exactly age well:
Vergara and Manganiello were outspoken about how quarantining with each other during the pandemic was pretty much a breeze.
"The best thing [about social distancing] is eating dinner together every night and the fact that I don't have to travel and that I'm here all the time and I get to see her," Manganiello spilled to OK magazine. Vergara continues, "Actually, we've been very good. It's like we haven't got under each other's skins."
Joe and Sofia have never shied away from PDA on the Red Carpet or had trouble expressing just how much they meant to one another, which is why the sudden news of the split was so shocking.
Their Surprise Split Left Fans Shocked
Just 2 weeks before they announced their split, Sofia took to instagram to share an intimate #TBT carousel of her and her hubby soaking up the Italian sun on a previous vacay!
Sofia and Joe were last spotted together in New Jersey where Joe was filming, Nonnas (Vince Vaughn's new Comedy that has been halted due to the SAG strike), before announcing they decided to call it quits after 7 years together.
“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 for our privacy at this time as we navigate this new phase of our lives.”
- Joe and Sofia's joint statement, Page Six
The news of their separation comes shortly after the Modern Family actress was spotted celebrating her 51st birthday with friends in Italy. Except Vergara was spotted celebrating sans Manganiello, and without her wedding ring on her finger.
Their divorce filing cited "irreconcilable differences," with some sources claiming Joe and Sofia "put a good front in public" but would bicker behind closed doors. While other sources claimed it was their differences when it came to starting a family together.
"He really wanted to have a baby with her and she wasn't interested and it caused a rift," a source told PEOPLE.
Sofia, shares son, Manolo Gonzalez Vergara, 31, with her first husband Joe Gonzalez, 52.
With a full-grown son at 51 years old, it's understandable that Vergara may not want to take care of a newborn again.
It's also understandable that at 46 years old, Joe Managniello, who's never had his own biological child, wants to raise his own.
No one position is better than the other. Sometimes it's not about being right. Sometimes two people may still even love each other, but they want different things and no matter how crazy in love you may be, passions can cool.
You only get one life, it's important to be true to yourself every step of the way.
It's Easy To Ask, "Where Did It Go Wrong?"
Maybe it didn't go wrong. Maybe it just ran its course. Life has its own plans.
It makes sense that when we fall in love, so many of us want to assurance that it is "forever."
Falling in love is scary and 'forever' feels safe. The unknown can be terrifying, especially for those of us who have the tendency to build our whole life around our partner.
If we're putting in all the work: joining finances, having kids, telling them our favourite colour –of course we want it to be forever!
I mean, most of us know the stats: 40-50% of first marriages end in divorce.
So, why is it, even in the face of the scary divorce rate stats, so many of us still feel like a failure when our relationships fall apart? When we don't talk to the person we called our "soulmate" anymore?
Because maybe we're way too fixated on owning the person we're with. Maybe we're really scared that if we don't they will leave us and we'll be left with ourselves. Maybe sometimes we want 'soulmate' to be a box we tick. Or maybe sometimes we want to be two halves coming together so we don't have to be a whole person on our own.
The age-old debate on whether or not "soulmates exist" is up to you, but regardless of which side of the discussion you find yourself on, one thing is for certain: "People come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime."
From friends, to lovers, and everyone in between not every relationship was built to last for a lifetime. That's what makes love precious, when you get it.
There are a million reasons that love is lost or love ends. What's important is the quality of time, not the length or even the label.
"Yeah. I believe that you can find a person who is very similar to you and that a relationship doesn't have to be a struggle. If things are easy, I think that's when you've found a soul mate."
- Sofia Vergara
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