Joe Manganiello Shares One Big Thought About Relationships After Going Instagram Official With New Girlfriend

Joe Manganiello in Billy Morrison video, It's Come To This
(Image credit: Billy Morrison/YouTube)

Ah, the eternal debate: to hard launch or not hard launch? It’s a question many social media users must answer for themselves when enjoying a new and blossoming romantic relationship. For Magic Mike’s Joe Manganiello, the actor had been rumored to be dating girlfriend Caitlin O’Connor for months when he decided to make it Instagram official in February. Following the reveal, Manganiello has opened up about his relationship thoughts. 

Joe Manganiello’s Latest Comments About His New Relationship

It’s been one year since Joe Manganiello and Sofia Vergara announced their split after a decade as a couple. These days, the Deal Or No Deal Island host and executive producer is happy and in love with Caitlin O’Connor. When asked about his hard-launch in a new cover story with Men’s Journal, Manganiello said this: 

When you have a bad day, hopefully you have a good partner in life.

While news of the pair’s relationship was first reported in September 2023, just a couple months after his and Vergara’s split was made public, the actor waited until a couple days after Valentine’s Day to introduce O’Connor into his social media followers. At the time, he took to his story to share this selfie of his lady: 

Joe Manganiello and Caitlin O'Connor Valentine's Day Instagram story 2024

(Image credit: Joe Manganiello/Instagram)

Manganiello also wrote “Best Valentine’s Day ever…?” in an Instagram post about the event he was at with Caitlin O’Connor. The couple went to see the rock band Tool in Los Angeles on the day of lovers at the Crypto.com arena. 

Why Did Manganiello And Sofia Vergara Split? 

During the new interview, Joe Manganiello also commented on his divorce with Sofia Vergara. The Modern Family actress previously said that the longtime Hollywood duo divorced due to a disagreement about kids. Vergara shared in February that she didn’t want to be a 60-something mother. Manganiello, however, does not agree that this was the reason for the dissolution of their marriage. In his words: 

To be painted as if I had some sort of midlife crisis, and after nine years, turned to somebody and gave them an ultimatum of, ‘Do this potentially unhealthy thing to your body, or else I'm gone’? That’s never who I was.

Joe Manganiello claimed that he wanted to have kids, but “wasn't inevitably why everything ended.” Instead, it was an instance of two people growing apart. Either way, months ago, it was reported that Vergara is not fazed by her ex’s new girlfriend and is “excited about what the future holds in her personal life.” Vergara is reportedly dating herself, and even said a tattoo of her ex’s initial shared the “same initial” with her new boyfriend, Justin Saliman (one of them anyway). 

It sounds like the former couple are thriving! Sofia Vergara just made history as the first Latina to be nominated for Lead Actress at the Emmys, and Manganiello’s Deal Or No Deal Island was a huge hit when it was among 2024 TV premieres earlier this year, with a second season on the way.

Sarah El-Mahmoud
Staff Writer

Sarah El-Mahmoud has been with CinemaBlend since 2018 after graduating from Cal State Fullerton with a degree in Journalism. In college, she was the Managing Editor of the award-winning college paper, The Daily Titan, where she specialized in writing/editing long-form features, profiles and arts & entertainment coverage, including her first run-in with movie reporting, with a phone interview with Guillermo del Toro for Best Picture winner, The Shape of Water. Now she's into covering YA television and movies, and plenty of horror. Word webslinger. All her writing should be read in Sarah Connor’s Terminator 2 voice over.