Joe Manganiello’s Addiction: ‘Magic Mike XXL’ Star Opens Up About Addiction To Alcohol

Joe Manganiello addiction has played a large role in his life.

While the Magic Mike XXL star is doing well now, being engaged and being named one of the sexiest men alive, there was a time when Joe really struggled with his addiction to alcohol. While he has been sober for over 10 years, Manganiello says his alcoholism is still something he struggles with daily.

Manganiello, who had success with his book Evolution: The Cutting Edge Guide to Breaking Down Mental Walls and Building the Body You’ve Always Wanted, says he may use his experiences with addiction in some creative way — maybe a more personal book.

“I was writing a one-man show at some point, and maybe I’ll pick up with that or turn that into a book; there are some hurdles that were thrown my way in life that I had to get over [that I want to discuss],” he told Haute Living for its July/August cover story.

“I battled with addiction at a young age and got to the other side of that. That’s an ongoing battle. I think there’s a story in there somewhere about trying to find my way through that and making it to where I am today.”

Joe previously spoke to HuffPost Live about his struggles with addiction in 2013.

“There was a period of about four years where I needed to quit drinking. And the drinking got in the way [of my career],” he told host Alyona Minkovski at the time. “And I talk about that a lot in the book. It was one of those obstacles that I had to get over and once again I needed to clear the road in order for these things to happen, so it really is an inside job. I had to clean up my act and figure that whole situation out.”

“It’s been over 11 years,” he said at the time. “My life was ruined. I was homeless, careless, and broke with no career, so yes, it was worth it [to get sober].”

Thank You London!!! Overwhelmed by all of the warmth and hospitality. Phenomenal night! @NickManganiello @359INC pic.twitter.com/3F4OAxWCg2

— Joe Manganiello (@JoeManganiello) July 1, 2015

Joe also told the news site that he suffered bullying in high school, which made him want to be stronger.

“Failure became a huge part of my success story,” he explained. “Now, you hear about these soccer games kids play when goals aren’t counted. Everybody gets the orange slice and the pat on the back and everybody says ‘Good job!’ And that wasn’t the case for me and I think I benefited from that. I’m glad that I lost, I’m glad that I failed, I’m glad that I felt that way and decided to do something about it… I never wanted to feel that way again and it drove me.”

[Photo by Tim P. Whitby / Getty Images]