"I just married the girl that I love."
Joe Manganiello never wanted to be in a high-profile relationship, but he did want Sofia Vergara.
The 40-year-old actor tells the April issue of Ocean Drive magazine that he knew the Modern Family actress was the only woman for him from the moment they met. "I just married the girl that I love. That was it," he gushes. "From the first date, it was just like, 'Wow!' It was so easy in all the ways that you want it to be easy and challenging in all of the most fun ways possible. So I knew right away and that was it."
WATCH: Sofia Vergara Dishes on Joe Manganiello's 40th Birthday -- 'I Love That He's Getting Old'
Manganiello admits that he never saw himself dating someone famous. "I was never part of a celebrity couple before this, because I never wanted to go through the difficulty that can bring in terms of paparazzi and attention. The two of us knew that once it became public that we were together -- and we had conversations about how that would change a lot of things," he shares. "[Vergara] is the only woman on the planet that I was willing to go through all of that for, because she’s the greatest."
The Magic Mike XXL star says that he and Vergara, 44, have managed to make all the attention work to their advantage. "All that pressure has just brought us closer together. It’s not something that we welcome into our lives. We try to stay private," he continues. "At the end of the day, it’s really nobody else’s business but ours. It’s just that I love her and she loves me and here we are. And there is a price for that, when living in the public eye.”
"I love just hanging out with my wife. We just have a great time together -- we’re great, we just laugh all day long," Manganiello sweetly notes. "If I had my choice, I would be just jumping in the car with my wife and taking a weekend trip somewhere.”
Vergara is also pretty sweet on Manganiello, which was evident when she threw him a "Joechella" 40th birthday bash. Check out the party pics:
