Tom Brady & Gisele Bündchen Worked Hard To Keep Their Divorce Private
The saga of the separation of Tom Brady, 45, and Gisele Bündchen, 42, has been playing out down in Florida for months now, even as the couple have remain publicly tight lipped about the state of their union. Now we know why they didn’t offer public comment. According to multiple sources, the couple’s divorce papers were filed in Florida officially this morning, October 28, but don’t expect a lengthy court case. According to TMZ, the pair had worked out many of the details beforehand, likely in hopes of avoiding a messy public spectacle playing out across court rooms and tabloid reports.
"The settlement is all worked out," a source told People magazine. "They've been working on the terms this whole time."
Little is known about the details of the agreement, and it’s likely to stay that way. The records will reportedly remain sealed. However, the pair will share custody of their children, and details concerning the finances and real estate holdings have been squared away. Apparently, the pair’s legal teams had been working hard throughout the past month to nail the agreement down.
"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,” wrote Bündchen in a message posted to Instagram stories.
"In recent days, my wife and I finalized our divorce from one another after 13 years of marriage,” added Brady in his own IG missive. “We arrived at this decision amicably and with gratitude for the time we spent together. We are blessed with beautiful and wonderful children who will continue to be the center of our world in every way. We will continue to work together as parents to always ensure they receive the love and attention they deserve."
With that, a messy divorce drama that could have remained in headlines for months has been reduced to a Friday morning media narrative.
Brady, the record breaking NFL quarterback, and Bündchen, the catwalk legend who was once the highest-paid model in the world, first started dating in 2006 after being set up on a blind date. The pair married in 2009. They share two children, and Bündchen has been a presence in the life of Brady’s son with his ex-girlfriend, actress Bridget Moynahan.
For years, the duo exemplified the grown-up equivalent of the quarterback and prom queen archetype on the red carpet, and Bündchen eagerly cheered Brady on through the last four of his seven Super Bowl wins. According to the gossip pages, however, cracks in the marriage appeared when Brady officially retired and then quickly un-retired from the NFL earlier this year.
Allegedly, Bündchen had agreed to put her own career on the back burner to tend to the family’s home life, but had hoped to return to fashion more regularly after Brady’s retirement. Once seen as a career with an age limit, many of Bündchen’s supermodel peers continue to prove they have no expiration date. Bündchen has continued to do occasional print modeling and advertising, but officially retired from the runway in 2015, only walking once, for the 2016 Olympics opening ceremony in her home country of Brazil since.
While Brady has remained in the Tampa Bay area, where he plays for the Buccaneers, throughout the late summer and fall, Bündchen has remained on the other side of the state in Miami, about a four-and-a-half hour drive away. Miami, notably, is home to the Dolphins, one of the biggest rivals of Tom’s old team, the New England Patriots. Despite that, the couple had purchased property in the area in hopes of making it their post-NFL home base. The Miami area is home to one of America’s largest Brazilian populations.
Bündchen has repeatedly been spotted in the area in recent months visiting with a spiritual healer.
