In his new memoir, Bloodlines, actor Joe Manganiello details a life-threatening health crisis that necessitated the emergency removal of his large intestine. The book also features a startling claim from a Cuba-based shaman who suggested a voodoo curse from one of Sofia Vergara's former partners may have triggered his illness.
The 60-pound weight loss and the 10-hour surgery
The medical emergency described by Manganiello was both sudden and devastating. as Manganiello details in his memoir, Bloodlines, he suffered from a year of mysterious symptoms that eventually culminated in a brutal medical intervention. Following the decision to remove his large intestine to save his life, the actor reportedly lost 60 pounds in just a two-week span.
The surgery was a ten-hour procedure that left Manganiello with an ostomy bag for an indefinite period. According to the report, Sofia Vergara acted as his next of kin during the crisis , making the difficult decision to allow doctors to divert his small intestine through a hole in his abdomen. This period of physical trauma was compounded by the intense privacy Vergara had to maintain, including wearing disguises and using loading docks to avoid paparazzi while visiting him in the hospital.
A Cuba-based shaman's claim of a New Orleans hex
A central and supernatural element of the memoir involves a meeting with a shaman based in Cuba. This shaman allegedly informed Manganiello that his physical ailments were not merely biological, but the result of a voodoo curse.. The shaman reportedly claimed that someone from Sofia Vergara's past, still harboring feelings for her, had placed a hex on her husband in New Orleans.
The shaman’s warning was so specific that it left Manganiello questioning the nature of reality. The practitioner reportedly suggested that Manganiello needed a cleansing ritual in Ecuador, as the shaman could not travel to the United States. Manganiello noted in his writing that the shaman’s knowledge of his private life was inexplicable, as none of these details had been shared with the press.
The failed IVF attempts and the end of the Vergara marriage
The physical toll of the illness appears to have been a primary driver in the dissolution of Manganiello's marriage to Vergara. While the couple had shared significant milestones, including a proposal in Kauai, Hawaii, the struggle to start a family added immense pressure to their relationship. As the report notes, the couple had attempted IVF for two years before finding they were unsuccessful, and they had even discussed the possibility of using a surrogate.
Manganiello suggests that the loss of his physical health and the subsequent death of their shared dream of parenthood caused the "fire" between the couple to fade. He also used the memoir to clarify a point of contention regarding their split, denying Vergara's previous claims that his desire for a child was the primary reason the marriage ended.
Was Nick Loeb the source of the alleged hex?
While the shaman's claims reamin unverified, Manganiello identifies a potential candidate for the source of the alleged curse. He points toward Nick Loeb, the man Vergara was engaged to until 2014, just before she began dating Manganiello. The actor notes that Loeb had survived a severe car accident during his relationship with Vergara, which led Manganiello to wonder if the "curse" was something Vergara had been carrying and subsequently transmitted to him.
Several questions remain unanswered by the memoir's revelations. There is no medical evidence linking the shaman's claims to the physiological cause of Manganiello's intestinal issues, nor has there been any response from Loeb regarding these spiritual allegations. Furthermore, the memoir leaves it unclear whether Manganiello views the shaman's insight as a literal truth or a psychological phenomenon triggered by his medical trauma.
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