Sofía Vergara and Joe Manganiello’s love was fiery and full of passion, but despite public appearances of being a happy couple, the pair hid a lot of their hardship, People now reports, after Vergara and Manganiello announcing their divorce.
A source said that Vergara and Manganiello had “ups and downs for a long time [although they] always put on a good front publicly. They’d be fighting or bickering, but then plaster on smiles when others were looking.”
A source close to Manganiello added that attraction wasn’t enough to offset their differences. “Their physical attraction to each other only carried their marriage that far,” the source said. “On a day-to-day basis, there are so many other things that need to work. There were several things that didn’t work.”
That source added that they were “often bickering about the small things [and were] both very stubborn.” For the past few months in particular, they had “very negative energy.”
The new intel echoes what a source close to Vergara told People earlier this week. “They have been growing apart for some time now and tried to resolve things, but they are focused on different areas of their lives,” that source said. The couple’s seven-year marriage was initially a “passionate, all-encompassing romance, which kept the flames hot for quite a while.”
“They definitely love and respect each other but once that initial passion dies down and other areas get in the way, then little differences get bigger,” the source said.
Vergara and Manganiello announced their divorce in a statement on Monday. “We have made the difficult decision to divorce,” they said. “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.”
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Alyssa Bailey is the senior news and strategy editor at ELLE.com, where she oversees coverage of celebrities and royals (particularly Meghan Markle and Kate Middleton). She previously held positions at InStyle and Cosmopolitan. When she’s not working, she loves running around Central Park, making people take #ootd pics of her, and exploring New York City.