New romance is bubbling up for Joe Manganiello.
As the actor works toward finalizing his divorce from Sofía Vergara, he has found a connection with Winning Time actress Caitlin O’Connor.
A source tells Manganiello, 46, and O’Connor, 33, first met at a small, “unofficial” after party for the HBO drama about the Los Angeles Lakers’ ’80s heyday.
The insider notes that the Winning Time bash was “the first time they met in the hot tub and they were talking the whole time!”
Manganiello and O’Connor are “casually seeing each other at this point,” the source adds, nothing that O’Connor “is a lovely girl” and Manganiello “seemed like a great guy.”
Not long after, the duo — who have been quietly meeting up around L.A., according to the insider — were spotted in September, then later photographed leaving a Gold’s Gym together in Venice, California after a workout and driving away in his car, per .
The alum’s new relationship comes after he filed for divorce from Vergara in July, citing “irreconcilable differences.”
A source told at the time that the couple had been going through “ups and downs for a long time,” though they “always put on a good front publicly.” Despite their shared mutual love and respect, the insider added Vergara, 51, and Manganiello “differ immensely in style and what they like to do, although during the marriage, each tried to put the other’s interests ahead of their own to make it work.”
Amid Manganiello’s budding romance with O’Connor, Vergara has kept busy, celebrating her 51st birthday in July with a friend around the time the former couple decided to divorce. The actress went on to judge season 18 of America’s Got Talent alongside fellow judges Howie Mandel, Heidi Klum and Simon Cowell, even weathering Mandel’s wisecracks about her love life with good humor.
Meanwhile, recently Manganiello revealed a new tattoo honoring his Armenian heritage while out in Brentwood, California.
A photo posted by artist Ruben Malayan on Instagram gave more details about the meaning behind the body art. In Malayan’s post, Manganiello posed close to the camera, showing a large word inked in black on his forearm.
The artist also revealed that the new tattoo said “Հրեշտակ,” which is Armenian for angel.
