Fans believe Joe Manganiello’s birthday Instagram post was first sign of Sofia Vergara divorce

Joe Manganiello divided fans after sharing what some claimed was an “awkward and cold” birthday tribute to his wife Sofia Vergara just days before the couple reportedly announced their intention to divorce after seven years of marriage.

Last week, the True Blood star, 46, posted a photo of himself and Vergara, who celebrated her 51st birthday on 10 July, to Instagram.

The photo in question, which was pixelated and blurry, appeared to be a throwback, as Vergara posted what looks like the same photo of the couple in December 2021 to celebrate Manganiello’s birthday.

However, it was the actor’s brief caption, which simply read: “Feliz Cumpleaños Sofía!” that upset fans the most, as many believed Manganiello should have shared a more “loving” tribute to his wife of seven years.

“Am I the only one who doesn’t like the way it sounds? ‘Sofia’... Not even ‘my love, my beloved wife,’” one person wrote, while another asked: “Why so dry?!”

“How about happy birthday my love!” someone else suggested alongside an exasperated face emoji.

According to one critic of the birthday tribute, “not even bank birthday messages sound so cold”.

While many were critical of the alleged lack of “emotion” in Manganiello’s post, others defended the couple from speculation that their relationship may be struggling.

“I don’t think he ran out of love for her … he wanted to give a different message. I don’t see anything wrong with it,” one person claimed, while noting that the fans criticising the post “misunderstood everything”.

Someone else revealed that they found the tribute “lovely,” as it was written in Spanish for the Modern Family actor, who was born in Colombia.

“I thought it was lovely that he wrote in Spanish. It is quite meaningful,” they wrote.

Others came to Manganiello’s defence on the basis that a social media tribute does not reflect an accurate representation of real life.

“Everyone making a fuss about him calling her Sofia, please grow up!” one person commented, while another said: “Imagine being bothered by how some guy wishes happy birthday to his wife.”

“So many comments [about] maybe they hit a bump or just maybe it’s a memory he shared of a birthday that was special. Ya never know,” someone else wrote, before adding: “Married couples go through ups and downs.”

Manganiello and Vergara met in 2014 at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner and exchanged vows the following year. However, Vergara previously revealed that she had concerns about a relationship with the Magic Mike star because he is “too handsome”.

“I told him when I met him that he was too handsome,” the actress told Jimmy Kimmel in 2015. “I didn’t want to go into a relationship with somebody that … I thought he was going to be too much work, because girls were throwing themselves at him.”

At the time, Vergara also joked that she’d wanted to find a partner who was “normal”.

But in 2018, Manganiello opened up about the couple’s loving marriage, with the actor tellingCigar Aficionado that the biggest adjustment for him was “coming to grips with the idea that someone who is not related to you could possibly love you that much”.

“She was it for me,” he said, adding: “People say things like: ‘Marriage and relationships are work.’ But it’s not. Life is hard. Having somebody to help you deal with it is the greatest thing that ever happened.”

For Vergara’s 50th birthday in 2022, the actor shared an album of photos of the pair on his Instagram, where he wrote: “Feliz Cumpleaños mi amor! I love you so much.”

In a statement to Page Six on Monday 17 July, a representative for the couple said: “We have made the difficult decision to divorce. 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.”

The Independent has contacted a representative for Manganiello for comment.