Joe Manganiello married Sofia Vergara in 2015 after only about six months of dating. But it was an easy choice for him to propose in Hawaii on Christmas Eve in 2014, and just as easy a decision for her to say yes.
The two first formally met in May 2014 at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, where fellow Modern Family alum Jesse Tyler Ferguson introduced them to each other. At the time, Sofia was engaged to Nick Loeb, but Manganiello had developed a forbidden crush on her.
However, a few weeks later, Sofia broke off her engagement and Joe immediately reached out to Jesse for her phone number.
“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,’” Ferguson told James Corden on The Late Late Show. “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.”
From there, Joe was flying back and forth to New Orleans where Sofia had been working, and they’d frequent on dates together. During one date, Joe assured her that she could stay single if that’s what she wanted to do, but he took his shot anyways in trying to make their relationship romantic.
“And so when I wound up seeing her again for the second time, I just said, ‘Look, you might need to be single. And I understand that. Now I can’t promise you I’m gonna be there at the end of your self-discovery process,’” he told ET Canada last July. “‘But like, if you need to be single I’ll understand. I’ll deal with it. Life will go on.’”
“‘But before you make your answer, hold on,’” he continued. “And I reached into my bag and I pulled out the People magazine with me as the ‘Number One Bachelor in the World. And I put it down on the table and I said, ‘Numero Uno.’ And then I slid it across the table to her.
She proceeded to flip the pages, passing his interview, to which he pointed out, and she responded, “Yeah, I want to see who else is on the list.”
Their relationship and love for each other only burned brighter from thereon out. They were engaged the following December and married barely a year later.
In a 2019 interview with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show, when asked when he knew she was “the one”, he responded, “I knew right away.”
They’ve both opened up about how their marriage has been, saying only sweet and positive things about what makes them work so well together.
In 2018, Joe talked with Cigar Aficionado about his biggest adjustments to being a married man.
“Coming to grips with the idea that someone who is not related to you could possibly love you that much. She was it for me,” he said. “People say things like, ‘Marriage and relationships are work.’ But it’s not. Life is hard. Having somebody to help you deal with it is the greatest thing that ever happened.”
More recently, a source close to US Weekly talked about why they are such a good fit for one another.
“Joe is a shy guy deep down, he doesn’t care for the showy stuff and prefers to keep everything low-key, which suits Sofia down to the ground,” the source said. “This is a guy who’s happy playing Dungeons and Dragons with the boys from time to time, but his party days are long gone. He’s proudly sober and Sofia loves the fact he’s a calm, grounded character.”
Joe has been sober from alcohol for 20 years.
“They work out a lot together and have friends over for dinner parties,” the source added, “plus they like to take weekends away and check out hip new dining spots. They’re very happy.”
Manganiello is stepfather to Sofia’s son, Manolo, who she welcomed during her first marriage in 1991 to Joe Gonzalez. Not having any kids of his own, Sofia never saw that as a problem.
“When you’re with somebody that hasn’t had kids, and you want to start a relationship, of course, there’s always that question,” she told Cosmo for Latinas in 2015. “And if it happens, it will be something that will make us very happy, but it’s not a priority in our lives.”
Joe and Sofia celebrated 7 years together last November and couldn’t be happier.
Sources:
https://people.com/tv/sofia-vergara-joe-manganiello-relationship-timeline/
usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/inside-sofia-vergara-joe-manganiellos-low-key-romance-details/
etcanada.com/news/909857/joe-manganiello-reveals-he-had-a-head-start-on-pursuing-sofia-vergara/
