Joe Manganiello spoke about how illness took over his life without warning, just when he seemed to have it all.
The actor, who is currently on the other side of a seven-year battle with an autoimmune disease, penned his experiences in his upcoming memoir Bloodlines, set to hit the shelves on October 13.
“It was the most brutally difficult time of my life,” he said.
Joe Manganiello spoke about how illness took over his life without warning, just when he seemed to have it all
Image credits: joemanganiello
It was right at the peak of his career when a “cascade of autoimmune-related illnesses” crept up on Joe Manganiello.
He had a “soaring career, a new marriage, and what many considered, the best physique in Hollywood” at the time, according to the memoir’s official synopsis.
Suddenly, his body began to “fail him” without warning, the synopsis added.
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The illness began to attack his skin, thyroid, eyes, lungs, and digestive system.
As he battled the disease for seven years, he went through chronic pain, a life-saving organ amputation, and an existential crisis.
The “prolonged fight for survival” left even doctors with “few answers and no clear explanation,” his synopsis said.
The illness began to attack his skin, thyroid, eyes, lungs, and digestive system
Image credits: joemanganiello
When doctors ran out of answers, the Magic Mike star turned to some unconventional paths to ease what he was going through.
This led him to “shamans, pagan rituals, ancient myths, long-lost family records, and the rebirth of his own spirituality,” the synopsis said.
He even took a deep dive into his own bloodline, discovering a family history that saw violence and displacement. Some of his ancestors even lived with chronic illness.
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As he now stands on the other side of his seven-year battle, Manganiello is able to call the experience the “greatest adventure” of his life.
“It was the most brutally difficult time of my life, one I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy, but also my greatest adventure,” the True Blood actor told People.
By sharing his journey, he said he hoped that readers would get answers and healing in their own battles.
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“The process of writing this book gave me the gift of perspective that helped me to see that my suffering was a cocoon from which I would emerge forever changed,” he added.
It is unclear exactly when the actor was diagnosed and treated for the illness.
The Hollywood heartthrob was previously married to Sofía Vergara and is now engaged to Caitlin O’Connor
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The Hollywood heartthrob tied the knot with Sofía Vergara in 2015. They divorced in 2024.
The Modern Family star, who shares son Manolo Gonzalez Vergara with her first husband, Joe Gonzalez, said she and Manganiello broke up because she didn’t want more kids.
“My marriage broke up because my husband was younger; he wanted to have kids, and I didn’t want to be an old mom,” the actress told El País in 2024. “I feel it’s not fair to the baby.”
Manganiello made his red carpet debut with his girlfriend and actress Caitlin O’Connor and asked her to marry him in June 2025.
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For a long time, fans looked up to Manganiello for fitness and bodybuilding, putting him in the company of other fitness icons like Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The actor said his toned physique wasn’t an easy result to achieve, and he always worked hard on it.
“I was really skinny growing up and I had to work at it,” he told Men’s Fitness in March 2025. “I think a lot of people think you roll out of bed that way.”
While talking about what it takes to stay fit, he said his sports nutritionist, Chris Tally, plays a big role.
The actor previously said his toned physique wasn’t an easy to achieve and always worked hard on it
“When you eat, you’re guessing, or you’re just following some fad diet you just read about,” he told the outlet.
“Chris will take 10 vials of your blood. Then, three weeks later, you get 26 pages of results,” he added. “It’s you specifically. What you’re supposed to eat. What your genetic history tells you to eat.”
“He lost me at using ‘pagan rituals,’” one commented, while another said, “He’s no longer incognito”
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