Gisele Bündchen opens up about ‘tough’ times nearly one year after Tom Brady divorce

Gisele Bundchen has reflected on the “tough” times her family has experienced since finalising her divorce from ex-husband Tom Brady.

The supermodel, 43, recently opened up to People about the many challenges she and her family have faced in the past year. “It’s been very tough on my family. It’s been a lot - in every area of my life,” she said in the interview published 18 September.

Within the last 12 months, Bündchen has navigated co-parenting her two children - son Benjamin, 13, and daughter Vivian, 10, - with ex-husband, retired football star Tom Brady. Before their divorce, which was finalised in October 2022, she relocated her family to Florida for Brady’s three-season stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

While the Victoria’s Secret model has now settled down in Miami, she was reportedly helping her two ailing parents at the same time. “I feel like whenever it rains, it pours,” Bündchen told the outlet. “With all the different twists and turns that life takes, all we can do is the best we can given what happens in our surroundings.”

Since moving on from her 13-year marriage with Brady, Bündchen explained that she’s relied on meditation and daily exercise to help her through difficult times. “I work out every single day,” she said, noting how her workout routine includes a mix of walking, yoga, and lifting weights.

“I think if I didn’t have all the different tools that I have to support me during these times, it would’ve been very hard,” she added. “And I think we all can relate to that, because I think we all have gone through our roller coasters of life.”

The Brazilian model also decided to stop drinking alcohol, and revealed how it’s positively affected her one year later. “Right after I turned 40, actually, I felt a huge difference between when I had the glass of wine and when I didn’t have the glass of wine,” Bündchen said. After cutting alcohol from her diet, she recalled seeing a difference “immediately”.

“I became more clear,” she explained. “I felt a bit more foggy before. Now I’m very sharp and very present and I notice things that I didn’t notice before. When I’m not drinking, I’m sleeping much better. You have to be loving to yourself. You ask a lot of your body, you’ve got to do a reset. You have got to take care of this only vehicle you got, right?”

Last year, Bündchen and Brady announced they were divorcing after 13 years of marriage. In a social media post shared on 28 October 2022, the former couple revealed they had finalised their divorce, just weeks after it was reported that they had each hired divorce lawyers.

“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,” Brady wrote in a statement shared to Instagram. “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.”

According to People, the couple agreed on joint custody of their children. In addition to their children Benjamin and Vivian, Brady also shares son John, 16, with ex Bridget Moynahan. 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 in a statement of her own, which she shared to Instagram. “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,” she wrote. “We will continue co-parenting to give them the love, care and attention they greatly deserve.”

In her statement, the supermodel 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.”

Their divorce announcement came amid speculation that Brady’s decision to unretire from the NFL in March 2022, after he previously announced his retirement in February that same year, had put a strain on their relationship. Bündchen further fuelled speculation that her husband’s career may have contributed to their marital struggles when she explained in an interview with Elle that she believes she’s done her “part” supporting her husband and their family.

“I’ve done my part, which is [to] be there for [Tom]. I moved to Boston, and I focused on creating a cocoon and a loving environment for my children to grow up in and to be there supporting him and his dreams,” she said in the interview published one month before their separation. “Seeing my children succeed and become the beautiful little humans that they are, seeing him succeed, and being fulfilled in his career - it makes me happy.

“At this point in my life, I feel like I’ve done a good job on that,” Bündchen added, before noting that she feels like it is now her “turn” to focus on her career. “And now it’s going to be my turn. It’s not like I’m going to be in the valley forever.”

Since then, the mother of two has revealed how she and Brady have navigated co-parenting their children following their divorce.

“We’re not playing against each other,” Bündchen told Vanity Fair last March. “We are a team, and that’s beautiful. I look back and I have no regrets. I loved every bit of it.”