Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen looked like the picture-perfect couple, but the NFL pro and the model aren’t afraid to admit that their relationship has gone through ups and downs.
“I’m blessed to find this life partner that we all kind of seek at different times in our life,” the former New England Patriots quarterback told Access Hollywood in May 2016. “We found each other at the right time. We’ve been through a lot of ups and downs together, and in so many ways, that’s kind of built our relationship so strong.”
While Brady noted the pair, who wed in 2009, have faced “challenges,” he added that they are always there for each other.
“It’s great to have that rock that you can always lean on that can support you in different ways that you need to,” he explained at the time.
The Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life author, who shares son Benjamin and daughter Vivian with the athlete, revealed the key to her long-lasting romance with Brady in January 2020.
“I think the important part is to have fully present moments with everybody,” she told The Observer. “I think that leads to fulfillment, because they don’t have half of you, they have all of you in that moment and then they get recharged.”
Four months later, a source exclusively told Us Weekly that the couple of 11 years have “gotten even closer over the years by being open and honest with one another and by committing to each other and prioritizing their family.”
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback, who is also father to son John from his previous relationship with Bridget Moynahan, tries to keep his personal life private, but often gushes about his wife on social media.
Brady quoted a portion of Stevie Wonder’s “You Are the Sunshine of My Life” on Bündchen’s 40th birthday in July 2020, adding: “‘You are the sunshine of my life. That’s why I’ll always be around. You are the apple of my eye. Forever you’ll stay in my heart’ ❤️ ❤️ .”
Two years later, however, the couple hit a rough patch after Brady revealed he was returning to the football field just weeks after he announced his retirement.
In September 2022, Us Weekly revealed that the pair “are still not seeing eye to eye regarding his retirement” and were not currently living together. “They are currently living in separate houses but continue to communicate,” a source told Us.
Weeks later, Us confirmed that Brady and Bündchen both hired divorce lawyers amid the drama. “They have still been at odds with each other,” the insider told Us, adding, “They are still living apart.”
In October 2022, the pair announced their split, revealing in separate social media statements that they had already finalized their divorce. “We arrived at this decision amicably and with gratitude for the time we spent together,” Brady wrote via Instagram at the time. “We are blessed with beautiful and wonderful children who will continue to be the center of our world in every way.”
Bündchen, for her part, added: “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.”
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