Sofia Vergara is opening up about her divorce, revealing for the first time that a disagreement over kids is what broke up her marriage to actor Joe Manganiello.
The 51-year-old Modern Family star said her ex-husband, who is four years younger, wanted children but she did not, citing her age.
Vergara shared the comments in an interview with El Pais about her career.
“My marriage broke up because my husband was younger; he wanted to have kids and I didn’t want to be an old mom,” Vergara said. “I feel it’s not fair to the baby. I respect whoever does it, but that’s not for me anymore.”
The Colombian actor has one child from a previous marriage, Manolo, who is 32 years old.
“I had a son at 19, who is now 32, and I’m ready to be a grandmother, not a mother," she said. “So, if love comes along, he has to come with [his own] children.”
"I’m almost in menopause; it’s the natural way of things," she added. "When my son becomes a dad, let him bring the baby to me for a while and then I’ll give it back to him and go on with my life; that’s what I have to do."
Vergara and Manganiello announced their separation in July after seven years of marriage.
Vergara stars in a new Netflix series about a female drug lord, Griselda - a new direction for the star known for light-hearted roles.
The show is based on the life of Griselda Blanco, a prominent cocaine trafficker operating in Miami from the 1970s to the early 2000s.
In her interview with El Pais, Vergara discussed playing an "empowered woman."
"She degenerated [as a result of] power, fear, ambition and insecurities. Just like a man. No more, no less."
Vergara has been wrapped up in a years-long court battle with her ex-fiancé Nick Loeb over frozen embryos that Vergara wants destroyed.
Loeb, a Catholic, says he was led to believe that he and Vergara were on the same page about when life begins.
"Throughout the course of our relationship, I expressed these views to Sofia, who similarly expressed to me that she was a devout Catholic and therefore also believed that life begins at conception. She told me that she regarded embryos as 'lives,'" he said.
