Gisele Bundchen has broken her silence on whether her ex-husband Tom Brady’s move to un-retire was a factor in their decision to get a divorce in a new interview with Vanity Fair, published on Wednesday, March 22. The model, 42, opened up about how difficult the “heartbreaking” split was and how much she cared for the NFL star, 45. She called rumors about their split regarding Tom’s decision to un-retire “very hurtful,” noting that there were a number of factors.
When asked about how much of the rumors regarding their split having to do with Tom’s football career were false, Gisele said “everything” was wrong, and she called the accusations that his retirement recall as the driving factor in their divorce “the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.” She also noted that sometimes people “grow apart.”
Gisele continued to explained that she “always cheered for” Tom and his success and “would continue forever,” while assuring that she had nothing but best wishes for him. “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,” she told Vanity Fair.
Besides explaining how she had rooted for the former quarterback to get everything he had ever wanted, she also explained how she learned so much about football from watching her ex-husband play over the years, showing that it had nothing to do with the decision to split.
Ultimately, the model referred to the un-retirement as “one piece of a much bigger puzzle,” and explained that the situation was “not so black and white.” She explained that a few different factors went into their decision to divorce, without divulging many details. “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 said. “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.”
Besides shutting down the rumors, Gisele also spoke about how “heartbreaking” the divorce was, and how it was “tough” that it didn’t pan out the way that they had planned.“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,” she told the outlet.
Tom and Gisele publicly announced their split in October 2022. Each released a statement and vowed to be committed to co-parenting their two children: Benjamin, 13, and Vivian, 10. Since the divorce, Gisele has still shown love to her ex on social media, including when Tom announced his actual retirement in February.