Joe Manganiello

The Magic Mike actor has revealed that he survived multiple near-death experiences during a grueling ten-year health crisis.

Detailed in his new memoir, Bloodlines, his ordeal began with a cascade of autoimmune-related illnesses that attacked his skin, thyroid, eyes, lungs, and digestive system. The seven-year battle left him in chronic pain and required a life-saving organ amputation.

Looking back, he revealed: "It was the most brutally difficult time of my life, one I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy, but also my greatest adventure."

The How I Met Your Mother star added that the writing process gave him a gift of perspective: "My suffering was a cocoon from which I would emerge forever changed."