Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen‘s potential impending divorce may seem like it came out of nowhere, but according to those close to the couple, their marital problems are “nothing new.”
While the couple only recently reportedly hired divorce attorneys, an insider confided to People that the issues between them “are 10 years old.” They added, “This has been going on forever. This is nothing new to either of them.” But over the past few months, those private relationship problems have become more public, especially after the quarterback’s recent decision to return to the NFL after previously announcing his retirement. Multiple sources confirmed to the outlet that Brady’s decision led to “a lot of tension” between them. So far, he has played four games of the 2022 season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Bündchen has yet to attend any of them.
Perhaps the fact that these tensions have been building for a decade helps explain why Bündchen “is doing fine” in the midst of the dissolution of her 13-year marriage. The source explained that the supermodel “is getting her stuff in order. They are both over [fighting for their marriage] and it’s happening now so they can do their own thing and move on.” They continued, “They are both smart people and number one in their field. They know together they are worth more.” Brady and Bündchen share two children, 12-year-old son Benjamin Rein and 9-year-old daughter Vivian Lake, and the football player it also father to a 15-year-old son, John Edward, with his ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan.
And while Bündchen may be taking this breakup in stride, a different insider close to the football player revealed that he is “hurt” by the whole situation. “It’s pretty obvious that he’s hurting,” and “he feels very hurt” by Bündchen, they explained. And other sources say that the pair’s struggles go far beyond just whether or not Brady will keep playing football. “It’s complicated,” one person said. “There’s a lot more to it.”
But reconciliation seems increasingly unlikely as last week both stars reportedly hired divorce attorneys to help them figure out their next steps. “She is the one steering the divorce,” the first source said. “She is playing offense and he is playing defense. He wants to protect himself, protect his interests, but he’s only starting to go the legal route in his defense from her. He doesn’t want this to be ugly, he doesn’t want to fight. If the divorce is happening—and it seems like it is—he wants it to go as smoothly as possible.” They added that this potential split is particularly difficult for the quarterback given that he is a man used to getting everything he wants. “Think about it: Tom has had a very charmed life,” they said. “Things always seem to go his way. He works hard, he’s a good guy, he hasn’t had a lot of things go wrong in his life. This is awful for him. You can tell that this really, really hurts.”