Joe Manganiello is recounting an extraordinary moment from his seven-year health battle, claiming a shaman told him that someone from then-wife Sofía Vergara's past had placed a "voodoo curse" on him.

In his memoir Bloodlines, released Oct. 13, the 49-year-old actor writes that a Cuba-based shaman contacted him and Vergara by phone while he was seriously ill.

Manganiello says the man appeared to know details about his intestinal problems that had not been publicly reported. The book does not establish that a curse existed or that anyone caused Manganiello's illness.

Manganiello and Vergara married in 2015 and announced their split in July 2023 after seven years of marriage. Their divorce was finalized in April 2024.

According to Manganiello, the shaman told Vergara that someone from her past was still in love with her.

"Someone from your past is still in love with you. He put a voodoo curse on your husband. He did it in New Orleans," Manganiello recalls the shaman saying.

The practitioner then offered to cleanse and protect the actor but said he could not travel to the United States, suggesting they meet for two days in Ecuador.

Manganiello writes that the shaman's apparent knowledge of his condition left him stunned because, he said, even some members of his family did not know how sick he was.

Manganiello has described suffering from a series of autoimmune-related illnesses that affected his digestive system, skin, thyroid, lungs and eyes.

The prolonged health crisis eventually led to emergency surgery to remove his large intestine.

He spent two months in the hospital after a year of worsening symptoms and underwent a 10-hour operation.

Vergara, who was his next of kin, decided to allow doctors to remove his entire large intestine while he was under anesthesia, according to his memoir.

The surgery left him with an ostomy bag before a later procedure reconnected his digestive tract.

Manganiello also writes that his weight dropped by 60 pounds in the two weeks following the surgery.

He recently shared hospital photos documenting the ordeal, including images showing his ostomy bag, surgical scars, and severe skin problems.

The actor has said the illness affected his marriage, describing how the prolonged battle changed his daily life and contributed to strain in the relationship.

He has also said he believes the health crisis played a role in the couple's eventual divorce.

Manganiello writes that he initially tried to determine which former boyfriend the shaman could have meant and eventually suspected "the guy she was with right before me."

That led him to Nick Loeb, whom Vergara dated from 2010 to 2014 and who was engaged to her before their split.

Manganiello also noted that Loeb had previously lived in New Orleans while attending Tulane University, a detail that made the shaman's claim seem more plausible to him at the time.

Loeb denied the allegation through a statement to Page Six, saying, "I pray they find Jesus — not another shaman."