The Significant Role PEOPLE Played During Sofía Vergara and Joe Manganiello's Relationship Long Before Their Divorce

Sofía Vergara and Joe Manganiello announce divorce after seven years.

Once upon a time, the magazine PEOPLE played a significant role in the love story of Sofía Vergara and Joe Manganiello. On Monday, the couple announced their decision to end their marriage after seven years together. However, it was PEOPLE that brought them together in the first place.

In July 2014, Manganiello expressed his admiration for Vergara's beauty in an interview for PEOPLE's Hottest Bachelors issue. At the time, Vergara was engaged to Nick Loeb, but they called off their engagement later that year. Manganiello and Vergara began dating shortly after and got married in 2015.

During the interview, Manganiello couldn't help but praise Vergara's physical attributes, describing her as having curves, a beautiful face, beautiful hair, and being naturally gorgeous. He also mentioned her feisty personality, adding to her allure.

Manganiello also reminisced about the first time he saw Vergara at the 2014 White House Correspondents' Dinner, where he attended as a guest of PEOPLE. He admitted to being captivated by her and even caught looking at her butt in a photo taken at the event. Manganiello emphasized that he never pursued someone who was already in a relationship, but if Vergara had been single, he would have pursued her without hesitation.

This wasn't the only time Manganiello shared his first encounter with Vergara. During an appearance on SiriusXM's The Jess Cagle Show, he revealed that he couldn't take his eyes off her at the dinner. He followed her around all night until her Modern Family co-star Jesse Tyler Ferguson noticed and introduced him to Vergara. Although their initial conversation was casual, everything changed when Vergara announced her split from Loeb three weeks later.

Manganiello reached out to Ferguson, seeking confirmation that Vergara was single. Once he received the green light, he wasted no time and asked Ferguson to pass along his desire to take Vergara out. Ferguson shared Vergara's phone number, and the rest, as they say, is history.

In a joint statement shared with Page Six, the couple confirmed their decision to divorce. They requested privacy as they navigate this new phase in their lives, emphasizing their love and care for each other.

While their love story may have come to an end, the role that PEOPLE played in bringing them together will always be a part of their history.

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