Gisele Bundchen is opening up about the end of her marriage to Tom Brady, comparing it to a "death and a rebirth."
In a new cover story for Vanity Fair, Bundchen said what's been portrayed in the media about the demise of their marriage, specifically that she sought a divorce because Brady backed out of retirement to play football for one more season, just isn't true.
"That takes years to happen," she told the publication.
Bundchen called the idea of leaving Brady over his football career "the craziest thing I've ever heard."
"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," she said. "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 said their marriage and its ending can't be explained so simply.
"What's been said is one piece of a much bigger puzzle," Bundchen said. "It's not so black and white."
"Sometimes you grow together; sometimes you grow apart," she added. "When I was 26 years old and he was 29 years old, we met, we wanted a family, we wanted things together. 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."
Bundchen likened the process of parting ways to "a death and a rebirth," and said she is also mourning "the death of my dream."
"It's tough because you imagine your life was going to be a certain way, and you did everything you could, you know?" she said. "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."
