Gisele Bündchen has broken her silence about the dissolution of her 13-year marriage with Tom Brady in a new cover story for Vanity Fair.
Speaking to Vanity Fair for its latest issue, the 42-year-old Brazilian supermodel addressed speculation about her divorce from the NFL star. When the former couple announced their split last October, rumours circulated that Brady’s decision to un-retire from football had caused a rift in their marriage.
However, Bündchen has now set these rumours straight.
Calling their divorce “the death of my dream,” the mother of two denied speculation that she had given Brady an ultimatum to choose between their family and his career. Rather, Bündchen maintained her support for the seven-time Super Bowl champion.
“Listen, I have always cheered for him, and I would continue forever,” Bündchen said in the interview published on 22 March. “If there’s one person I want to be the happiest in the world, it’s him, believe me. I want him to achieve and to conquer. I want all his dreams to come true. That’s what I want, really, from the bottom of my heart.”
But when asked whether there were stories written about their divorce that weren’t true, Bündchen replied: “Everything.”
“What’s been said is one piece of a much bigger puzzle. It’s not so black and white.”
Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen first met in December 2006 when they were set up on a blind date by mutual friend Ed Razek, the former CMO of Victoria’s Secret’s parent company. The pair were married in 2009, and went on to welcome two children: Benjamin, 12, and Vivian, nine. Brady also shares 15-year-old son Jack with ex Bridget Moynahan.
The Victoria’s Secret Angel, who was 26 years old when she met the football player, admitted that divorce wasn’t something she had envisioned for her future. “It’s tough because you imagine your life was going to be a certain way, and you did everything you could, you know?” she said tearfully, according to the outlet. “I believed in fairy tales when I was a kid. I think it’s beautiful to believe in that. I mean, I’m so grateful I did.”
She continued: “You give everything you got to achieve your dream. You give a hundred percent of yourself, and it’s heartbreaking when it doesn’t end up the way you hoped for, and worked for, but you can only do your part.”
In the months leading up to their divorce, Bündchen spoke candidly about her plans to return to modelling after she had retired in 2015 to focus on her family. In an interview with Elle just one month before their divorce was finalised, Bündchen shared that she’s “done [her] part” to support her husband’s career and wanted to prioritise the “huge list of things” she wants to do in order to feel “more connected with my purpose”.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Bündchen revealed that part of the reason why her relationship with Brady ended was simply because they grew apart. “When I was 26 years old and he was 29 years old, we met, we wanted a family, we wanted things together,” she said. “As time goes by, we realise that we just wanted different things, and now we have a choice to make.”
“That doesn’t mean you don’t love the person,” she continued. “It just means that in order for you to be authentic and truly live the life that you want to live, you have to have somebody who can meet you in the middle, right? It’s a dance. It’s a balance.”
On 28 October 2022, the former announced in joint statements shared to Instagram accounts that they had decided to end their marriage. In a statement shared to Brady’s Instagram, he wrote: “In recent days, my wife and I finalised our divorce from one another after 13 years of marriage. We arrived at this decision amicably and with gratitude for the time we spent together. We are blessed with beautiful and wonderful children who will continue to be the centre of our world in every day. We will continue to work together as parents to always ensure they receive the love and attention they deserve.”
In the post, the football quarterback said that he and Bündchen arrived at the decision to end their marriage “after much consideration”.
“Doing so is, of course, painful and difficult, like it is for many people who go through the same thing every day around the world,” he continued. “However, we wish only the best for each other as we pursue whatever new chapters in our lives that are yet to be written.”
Bündchen also shared the news with an Instagram statement of her own, in which she said: “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 supermodel 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.”
