The model is opening up for the first time about her breakup from the former NFL pro.
Gisele Bündchen is speaking her truth. The 42-year-old model covers the latest issue of Vanity Fair magazine and in the accompanying interview, she opens up for the first time about her divorce from Tom Brady, which they announced in October 2022.
Calling the divorce, "the death of my dream," Bündchen debunks the claim that she gave Brady an ultimatum about choosing between their marriage and his football career.
"Wow, people really made it about that. What’s been said is one piece of a much bigger puzzle," she tells the magazine. "It’s not so black and white."
Calling the claims "very hurtful" and "the craziest thing I've ever heard," Bündchen adds, "Listen, I have always cheered for him, and I would continue forever. 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."
As for what led to their divorce, Bündchen gives her own take on the situation.
"Sometimes you grow together; sometimes you grow apart," she says. "When I was 26 years old and he was 29 years old, we met, we wanted a family, we wanted things together. As time goes by, we realize that we just wanted different things, and now we have a choice to make. That doesn’t mean you don’t love the person. 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."
She goes on to explain, "When you love someone, you don’t put them in a jail and say, 'You have to live this life.' You set them free to be who they are, and if you want to fly the same direction, then that’s amazing."
Bündchen and Brady were first romantically linked in January 2007 and got married on Feb. 26, 2009. They share two children, 13-year-old son Benjamin and 10-year-old daughter Vivian, while Brady also has a 15-year-old son, Jack, with actress Bridget Moynahan.
Moving forward with her ex, Bündchen says, "We’re not playing against each other. We are a team…and that’s beautiful. I look back and I have no regrets. I loved every bit of it."
As for the rumors that Bündchen has romantically moved on with Brady's friend, real estate developer Jeffrey Soffer, Bündchen is quick to refute the claims.
"I have zero relationship with him in any way," Bündchen says of Soffer, noting that she has not even seen him in six months. "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. They were saying I’m with this guy, he’s old, because he’s got money – it’s ridiculous."
ET spoke to Vanity Fair writer Michelle Ruiz, who spent time with Gisele at her home in Costa Rica for the story. Ruiz called the supermodel's emotions "very raw and very palpable."
"If you think about it this split is still very fresh and ... they had 13 years married and more years dating and then this split really just happened over the last few months so I think she’s absolutely still adjusting to her new life now," she shared. "There was this very popular narrative that Gisele essentially issues this ultimatum to Tom Brady that if his football career continued then their marriage would not and she very clearly and very strongly pushed back on that narrative and says that its not true, that she had cheered for him for many years and many seasons and that she would have continued to."
"I think what she says is that the truth is just not so black and white and not so simple and many of us who have been married or have been in a long partnership know that essentially what she is saying is that these things don't happen overnight," she continued. "You know, marriages aren't built or broken with the snap of a finger over one season."
As for any hope of the two ever getting back together, Ruiz doesn't think that will happen.
"I did not sense that there was any hint of a reconciliation in the air," she said. "I think, you know, she was mourning something that was clearly over."
On Oct. 28, 2022, the 45-year-old former NFL pro and Bündchen both posted statements to their Instagram Stories announcing their split.
"With much gratitude for our time together, Tom and I have amicably finalized our divorce. My priority has always been and will continue to be my children whom I love with all my heart. We will continue co-parenting to give them love, care and attention they need," Bündchen said at the time. "The decision to end a marriage is never easy, but we 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."
While Bündchen has waited months to speak out about her split from Brady, he addressed their divorce just a few days after their initial Instagram announcement.
"I think there's a lot of professionals in life that go through things that they deal with at work, and they deal with at home. Obviously, the good news is, it's a very amicable situation and I'm really focused on two things, taking care of my family and certainly my children and, secondly, doing the best job I can to win football games," he said in October, when he was still the quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in an episode of his SiriusXM podcast, Let’s Go! With Tom Brady, Larry Fitzgerald and Jim Gray. "...All you can do is the best you could do. That's what I'll just continue to do as long as I'm working and as long as I'm being a dad."
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