Joe Manganiello says seven-year mystery illness led to removal of his large intestine and nearly killed him

Actor Joe Manganiello says a seven-year mystery illness nearly “took his life” and led doctors to remove his entire large intestine, he told Gayle King on CBS Mornings, Fox News reported.

Manganiello told King he first received a call to appear as the villain Deathstroke in Ben Affleck’s canceled Batman movie in 2016, about a month after he collapsed on another set and after about a year of developing the mystery symptoms, Fox News reported.

He said he spent two months in the hospital and that surgeons removed his entire large intestine to save his life. Manganiello said the surgery left him with an ostomy bag and that he lost about 60 pounds in two weeks, could not walk, developed crossed eyes, lost his voice and had five catheters, according to Fox News.

Manganiello told King that, while he was unconscious, doctors called his then-wife Sofia Vergara as his next of kin and presented treatment options; he said Vergara “chose the right one” and that the decision bought him time, Fox News reported. The couple married in 2015, announced their separation in 2023 and finalized their divorce in 2024, the article said.

King cited Manganiello’s memoir, Bloodlines, and Manganiello told her the illness strained his marriage and that he had been “living in secret” with the condition for seven years, Fox News reported. The memoir was released Oct. 13, 2026, the article said.

Fox News also reported that King referenced a social-media post by Vergara’s son, Manolo Gonzalez Vergara, about a “narcissistic” man and Vergara’s apparent like of that post; Manganiello told King the book is about his suffering and urged readers to read it before judging, the article said.

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