Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello’s Relationship Timeline

Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello’s romance was definitely a whirlwind. Just six months after the two of them met (and after the Modern Family star was newly single), the Magic Mike actor proposed. Then, less than a year after their engagement, they tied the knot. However, their partnership wasn’t fated to last. After seven years of marriage, the couple announced on July 17, 2023, that they were separating. From their chance meeting to their eventual divorce, here’s a complete timeline of their relationship.

• Sofia Vergara and Joe Manganiello first met in May 2014, while Sofia was engaged to another man. By June, however, the actress was single and the couple began dating.
• Six months after meeting, Joe proposed to Sofia on Christmas Eve in 2014.
• The couple wed on November 21, 2015, during a glamorous ceremony in Palm Beach.
• On July 17, 2023, the pair announced that they planned to separate after seven years of marriage.

May 3, 2014: Meeting at the White House

The two first met in 2014 at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner while Sofia was still with her ex-fiancé Nick Loeb. But that didn’t stop Joe from checking out Sofia at the event. “Yeah, I totally got busted,” he told E! News back in 2014. “That was actually funny when we first started dating, months after that. We had talked I guess, or kind of bumped into each other, but we didn’t start dating until she was single. I mean, she had a boyfriend at that time, so I probably could have got in a fight for doing that. I’m not trying to start a fight at the White House.”

June 15, 2014: First Date

After she and Loeb split, Joe allegedly reached out to Sofia’s Modern Family co-star Jesse Tyler Ferguson to get her number. The two went on a first date in secrecy, and Sofia was a bit hesitant since she and her ex had just split. In fact, on their first date, she was trying to convince both of them that it wouldn’t work out—with little success, obviously.

“Our first date was her giving me every reason why it would never work out,” he told Haute Living in 2015. “Like, ‘You’re too young, you’re an actor, you’re this, you’re that,’ and she was just doing it to hear herself say it. She was trying to talk herself out of going there.”

August 11, 2014: Sofia Confirms the Relationship

The two hit it off and over the next few months, rumors of a relationship started swirling. Sofia eventually confirmed the rumors in August 2014 during an interview with Extra. “You know, I’m just having a great time. It’s a special time in my life, and I’m trying not to think too much about it,” she said. “It’s something very new, so we will see what happens.” She added that her family approved as well, saying, “What is there not to approve of?” 

November 2014: Moving in Together

The couple celebrated their first Thanksgiving as a couple with a big milestone: The pair moved in together! She confirmed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show that the pair was packing up to move in together later that day.

“I left him home packing my things,” the actress joked to Ellen. “We’ve had help, and he’s doing his stuff. He has a lot of books that I don’t know where I’m going to put. We have a wine cellar and I was like, ‘Oh, maybe that’s where we should put them instead of wine.’ He doesn’t want to put them in storage!”

December 24, 2014: Joe Proposes to Sofia

A sighting of Joe at a jewelry store in L.A. prompted rumors of a pending engagement just six months after the couple became an item. Joe had a whole proposal planned on the beach during a trip to Hawaii over the holidays, but when paparazzi nearly spoiled the engagement, Joe switched up the plans last minute. He proposed in the couple’s suite, and in Spanish. How romantic?!

“Our first date was in June, and then I proposed to her on Christmas Eve; [we dated for] about six months. When you know, you know, and we knew right away—like, very quickly,” he recalled during a 2015 interview with Haute Living. “We had this big bay window [that I opened up], and the sun was going down pink over the mountains and over the bay, and I had this ring. I had looked at every ring in the world, and this is the ring that I wanted. I had a whole speech prepared in Spanish. I proposed to her on one knee in Spanish with the sun going down. It was awesome.”

November 21, 2015: A Wedding in Palm Beach

A year after moving in together, the couple made it official by walking down the aisle. The wedding was held at The Breakers in Palm Beach and the stars’ stunning ceremony took place under an extravagant floral arch. The ethereal and romantic nuptials was also a largely attended event with about 400 guests, which included some of her Modern Family co-stars.

Sofia wore a stunning Zuhair Murad ball gown and Joe looked dapper in a classic black tux.

December 2015: Honeymoon in Turks and Caicos

After they officially tied the knot, the newlyweds took off for a lavish honeymoon in Turks and Caicos, where they stayed at the Parrot Cay Resort. The couple relaxed on the beaches and soaked up the sun and their newlywedded bliss.

June 14, 2020: Dating Anniversary

In June of 2020, the pair celebrated their sixth anniversary of meeting and Sofia shared a sweet photo to mark the occasion. “6 yrs since u went and found me!!!” she wrote on Instagram. “happy [anniversary] @joemanganiello U r mine!!!!”

The two celebrated with a very 2020, quarantine-style surprise anniversary dinner date put on by her kids.

November 21, 2020: Celebrating Five Years of Marriage

The couple then celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary on November 21, 2020, by taking a look back on the big day five years ago. “Feliz 5th anniversary!!!” Sofia shared on Instagram, alongside a series of photos of the happy couple on their wedding day.

February 14, 2021: Valentine’s Day Tributes

On Valentine’s Day 2021, Sofia posted a photo of the two cuddling up, which she captioned with red heart emojis. Joe also commemorated the romantic holiday with a beautiful profile shot of his wife looking into the distance accompanied by a Spanish caption.“¡Feliz día de San Valentín a la mujer mas bella del mundo!” he wrote, which translates to, “Happy Valentine’s Day to the most beautiful woman in the world!”

“Gracias!!@manologonzalezvergara @cdvergara and others for our surprise [anniversary] dinner date in quarantine,” she wrote.

July 17, 2023: Splitting After Seven Years of Marriage

On July 17, 2023, after seven years of marriage, the pair announced that they were filing for divorce, E! News reports. “We have made the difficult decision to divorce,” the pair said in a joint statement to Page Six. “As two people that love and care for one another very much, we politely ask for respect of our privacy at this time as we navigate this new phase of our lives.”

January 23, 2024: The Cause of Their Divorce, Revealed

Six months after the former couple filed for divorce, the Modern Family alum shared the real reason why the two of them split. “My marriage broke up because my husband was younger,” she revealed to Spanish newspaper El País. “He wanted to have kids, and I didn’t want to be an old mom. I feel it’s not fair to the baby. I respect whoever does it, but that’s not for me anymore.” Since Sofia shares son Manolo with ex-husband Joe Gonzalez, she’s ready for a new chapter. “I had a son at 19, who is now 32, and I’m ready to be a grandmother, not a mother,” she explained.