Nearly one year after separating from Joe Manganiello, Sofía Vergara is opening up about dating as a single woman.
“It’s already hard for a 50-something-year-old woman to find someone,” Vergara, 51, told People in a cover story published on Wednesday, May 1, noting that she would consider dating an actor again. “I’m not going to be picky about, ‘Oh, he can only be a doctor. Oh, he can only be an astronaut.’ No, I mean, I’m not that picky.”
Vergara and Manganiello, 47, announced in July 2023 that they were separating after being married for seven years. Manganiello officially filed for divorce that same month, citing irreconcilable differences as the reason for their breakup. Their divorce was finalized in February.
Three months after announcing their split, the America’s Got Talent judge sparked a romance with Dr. Justin Saliman. They were first photographed together in October 2023 while out in Los Angeles. Last month, she made their romance social media official by publicly declaring her “luv” for Saliman, 49, in an Instagram post.
Vergara told People that in addition to her age, dating as a celebrity is very challenging.
“Everything gets so exaggerated. Everything sometimes gets not interpreted the right way. So life is already hard,” she explained. “Having relationships is hard. Problems are hard. And then to see it out there and be completely changed, you want to be like, ‘What is going on?’ But you just get used to it. It comes with being famous, so you can’t complain that much.”
Vergara also expressed what she believes is the key to a strong relationship.
“You need to always give the best that you can, be the best person to the other person,” she said. “Be there for them when they need you, when they’re going through the hardest time. Hopefully that will one day come back to you.”
As for what qualities she’s looking for in a relationship, Vergara wants “Health. Money. Fun. With kids. That’s it. That’s all I want.”
She added that she has a deal-breaker: “No more kids.”
In January, Vergara revealed that was the reason why she and Manganiello split.
“My marriage broke up because my husband was younger; he wanted to have kids and I didn’t want to be an old mom,” she told Spanish newspaper El País. “I feel it’s not fair to the baby. I respect whoever does it, but that’s not for me anymore.”
“I had a son at 19, who is now 32,” she added, “and I’m ready to be a grandmother, not a mother.”
Vergara was previously married to her high school sweetheart, Joe Gonzalez, from 1990 to 1993. They share a son, Manolo, 32.