By the time we got to late October 2022, there had been many months of rumors about trouble brewing in the marriage of Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen. The two had long been a sparkling example of “couples goals” for many, having married 13 years prior and being parents to two children, while also co-parenting his son with ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan. But, it was during this time last fall when they announced that their divorce was finalized, after several of those relationship rumors pointed to their problems stemming from his devotion to his football career. Now, the supermodel has responded to reports that she issued an ultimatum to her husband over his retirement before their divorce.
What Did Gisele Bündchen Say About Reports She Gave Tom Brady A Retirement Ultimatum?
After their 2009 wedding, the couple spent much of their time together as what seemed like a fully united front, with the one-time Victoria’s Secret Angel usually in the stands as her quarterback hubby played every week. She was nothing if not completely supportive of his career, but as his time in the NFL raged on, outsiders began to wonder if the backseat she’d taken in her career so he could continue as she held down most of the parenting duties led to strife.
While speaking with Vanity Fair for its April cover story, the former runway queen was asked about speculation that she told Brady to retire so he could spend more time with his family, or to expect to see divorce papers. She called the claims “very hurtful” and noted they were “the craziest thing I’ve ever heard” before adding:
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.
What really kicked off mass ultimatum speculation was her husband’s February 2022 retirement from his over two-decade career as one of the most celebrated quarterbacks in professional American football…and his much-joked about un-retirement just a few weeks later. It was then in early October that reports came out that she’d hired a divorce attorney, which, considering when their split was finalized, could have been true.
According to the cover model, however, she never set any such line in the sand, because all she wanted was for her husband to have the life he wanted, and that included football for all of their time together. Even he admitted it took over his personal life, as the former Tampa Bay Buccaneer compared a football season to military deployment shortly before his divorce was completed, and said in 2020 that his family “situation” at the time “wasn’t great” because of how often he was away from home and consumed by his job.
The model also opened up about the divorce itself, saying it was “the death of my dream,” but added that breakups like hers take “years to happen,” meaning that a single instance or event is unlikely to be the cause. She continued:
It’s tough because you imagine your life was going to be a certain way, and you did everything you could, you know? I believed in fairy tales when I was a kid. I think it’s beautiful to believe in that. I mean, I’m so grateful I did. You give everything you got to achieve your dream. 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.
It seems that Bündchen is confident that she did do her part, and, at the very least, it’s lucky that the divorce itself was a done deal very quickly, so that the exes could focus on co-parenting their kids and figuring out how to move on.
