Gisele Bündchen has finally addressed rumours she’s in a relationship with jiu-jitsu instructor Joaquim Valente following her divorce from Tom Brady. However, the Brazilian supermodel has suggested that separate stories about her dating life were “planted” to “make me look like something I’m not.”
Following her divorce from the NFL star in October, the 42-year-old model sparked romance rumours with her son’s martial arts teacher, Joaquim Valente. Since November, the two have been spotted together in Costa Rica, from grabbing dinner to going on runs. Although a source told People in January that the pair share a tight bond, they have not put a label on their relationship.
Now, in a new Vanity Fair cover story published on 22 March, Bündchen has publicly addressed her relationship with Valente for the first time.
“I think, at this point, unfortunately, because I’m divorced, I’m sure that they’re going to try to attach me to anything,” she said, referring to reports that the pair are dating. “I’m so grateful to know all of them, because not only have they helped me and helped my kids, but they have become great friends, and Joaquim especially.
“He’s our teacher and, most importantly, he’s a person that I admire and that I trust. It’s so good to have that kind of energy, to have my kids around that type of energy.”
Joaquim Valente isn’t the only person Bündchen has been romantically tied to following her divorce from Brady. On 16 March, a report from The Daily Mail claimed the former Victoria’s Secret model was dating Brady’s best friend and billionaire property developer, Jeffrey Soffer. “Gisele has been spending time with Jeffrey Soffer,” a source claimed. “They’ve been seeing each other for several months now and meet secretly about once a week.”
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Bündchen called the report “absurd” and maintained she has “zero relationship” with Soffer. “He’s Tom’s friend, not my friend. I wouldn’t be with his friend. I wouldn’t be with this guy.”
“I mean, puh-leeze,” she remarked. “They were saying I’m with this guy, he’s old, because he’s got money – it’s ridiculous.”
According to Vanity Fair, Bündchen even suspected the Jeffrey Soffer rumour was planted, asking: “Who benefits from this? Why would somebody plant something like this? There’s only one reason. They want to make me look like something I’m not.”
Last week, the model shared a cryptic message about “the truth” to her Instagram just one day after the Jeffrey Soffer report surfaced. “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth,” she captioned the smiling selfie.
On 28 October 2022, Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady announced they had decided to end their marriage after 13 years. In a statement shared to Instagram, the mother of two wrote: “With much gratitude for our time together, Tom and I have amicably finalised our divorce. My priority has always been and will continue to be our children whom I love with all my heart. We will continue co-parenting to give them the love, care and attention they greatly deserve.”
The model then acknowledged that the decision to end a marriage is “never easy,” but that she and Brady have “grown apart”.
“And while it is, of course, difficult to go through something like this, I feel blessed for the time we had together and only wish the best for Tom always,” she continued. “I kindly ask that our privacy be respected during this sensitive time.”
The former couple are parents to two children: Benjamin, 12, and Vivian, nine. According to People, the couple agreed on joint custody of their children. Brady also shares 15-year-old son Jack with ex Bridget Moynahan.
