Gisele opens up about her divorce, mental health struggles
Gisele Bündchen is embracing her life’s “new chapter” following the fashion icon’s high-profile divorce from former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady.
Hulu released “IMPACT x Nightline: Gisele Bündchen: Climbing the Mountain” on Thursday, a new special featuring a wide-ranging discussion between the supermodel and ABC reporter Robin Roberts at Bündchen’s ranch in Miami. During their chat, Bündchen got emotional while talking about her divorce from Brady in 2022.
“It’s heartbreaking, you know, to go through that,” Bündchen told Roberts before tearing up and asking for “a little moment” to collect her thoughts.
Despite having to endure the pain of a divorce, the Brazilian model called the experience “a transition that had to take place.” Bündchen revealed to Roberts that she “wouldn’t change anything” about her life or past and called her children with Brady the “biggest blessings.”
“Now I get to create a new season, a new chapter in my life,” Bündchen said. “I get to learn new things, and I get to walk my path in a different way, you know. I’m grateful for all of it. I’m grateful for every lesson.”
When it comes to co-parenting with Brady, Bündchen admitted that “there’s easier days than others,” especially since their kids aren’t afraid to test their parents on what they can get away with. Bündchen has two children with Brady, Benjamin and Vivian, while the former Patriots star also has a son, Jack, with ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan, whom Bündchen helped raise.
As they navigate their new normal for parenting, Bündchen is focused on keeping a “balance” and believes that their kids are benefiting from the experience.
“Tom has time with them, and I have time with them, which I think is amazing,” Bündchen said.
In addition to her past relationship with Brady, the supermodel got candid about her previous mental health struggles. During the height of her modeling career, Bündchen “started having anxiety and severe panic attacks,” which she believes stemmed from her unhealthy eating, drinking, and smoking habits at the time.
“I think it was a way of numbing yourself,” Bündchen said. “Part of me drinking or smoking, it was escapism in a way. Like I didn’t want to deal. Now I’m dealing and I’m realizing, wow.”
Bündchen wrote in her 2018 bestselling book, “Lessons,” that she hit a low point in her 20s and contemplated jumping off the balcony of her New York City apartment.
“The idea swept over me then,” Bündchen wrote in her book. “Maybe it will be easier if I just jump.”
The low moment led her to embrace a full lifestyle change, and she was able to shed her bad habits with the help of a holistic specialist, who put her on a “very intense detox” of sorts for three months.
“I had to eliminate everything that was sugar,” Bündchen said. “In one day I stopped smoking, drinking coffee, drinking alcohol because he said, ‘Do you want to live?’ And I said, ‘Yes.’”
As part of Bündchen’s nutrition changes, her morning routine now includes lukewarm water with lemon instead of coffee, a 30-minute morning jog, and meditation sessions. She has been vegetarian and vegan at various points over the years. Today, Bündchen still eats a mostly plant-based diet, but has started to add red meat and fish in moderation.
“Most of my plate is green,” she told Roberts. “My goal every day is to eat nutrition, so I think, ‘What’s going to nourish my body the most?’ That’s always my first choice.”
After stepping back from modeling in 2015 to support Brady’s career and raise their kids while living in Boston, Bündchen is now focused on her ambitions, including her upcoming cookbook “Nourish.”
“At the end of the day, if you’re not truthful to who you are, then it doesn’t work,” Bündchen said. “Where my heart is now, where I am right now is I’m living my truth, and I’m not apologizing for it.”
As for the future of her love life, Bündchen wouldn’t comment about her rumored romance with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu trainer Joaquim Valente, only saying that her biggest concern is raising her family.
“I think right now, really my priority is my kids and creating this beautiful sanctuary for a family,” she said. “I think life is full of surprises, and I don’t have a crystal ball about what’s going to happen tomorrow.”