Joe Manganiello was given fried chicken as a wedding gift.

Joe Manganiello

Joe Manganiello

The 'Magic Mike XXL' star tied the knot with Sofia Vergara in Florida in November 2015 and he was delighted when celebrity chef Art Smith agreed to provide food for their evening reception and again for brunch the following day.

Asked his favourite food, he said: "I love waffles. I'm a sucker for waffles. Waffles and fried chicken. As a present, my friend Art Smith came and made his fried chicken the night of my wedding.

"So he and his chefs came out with trays of fried chicken for everybody and then he made it again for the brunch the next morning. Which was just ... I was in heaven. When he brought it out, it was gone. I mean, he brought, like, 400 pieces of chicken and they were gone in about two seconds. It's the best fried chicken I've ever had in my life."

Unless he is working, Joe doesn't tend to worry about what he eats.

He added: "I only need cheat days when I'm training for something. When I'm not, I just eat whatever the hell I want."

However, the 40-year-old actor eats a lot of red meat after working with a nutritionist and discovering his old dairy-heavy diet didn't really work for him.

He explained to Men's Fitness magazine: "This past year I met with Chris Talley, a nutritionist who used to work for Nasa, and now works with a lot of pro athletes. What I realised through him is that people giving other people diet advice doesn't really work.

"People make blanket statements about diet - 'red meat is bad, fat is bad' - but it's not true for everyone. One size does not fit all when it comes to diet.

"Talley debunked so many things I'd thought and really shed light on something about food, especially the food I was eating when I was training. I found out I was allergic to eggs, milk and casein, which comprised a huge percentage of my diet. My allergies eventually went away. I also found out that red meat was great for me. But that's for me - maybe not somebody else."