Bridget Moynahan's personal life has long been a source of gossip, but her real life
and career go far beyond tabloid headlines. Here's the truth about Tom Brady's ex, Bridget
Moynahan.
Brady and Moynahan were in a relationship for three years before splitting in 2006.
Brady had already moved on to his now-wife, Gisele Bündchen, when Moynahan revealed she
was pregnant. Moynahan told Harper's Bazaar,
"I'm not sure anyone — and I could be wrong in this — grows up thinking, I want to be
a single mom."
Still recovering from her recent heartbreak, Moynahan claimed that she found her whole
life, quote, "upside down and inside out." She said,
"I'm a traditional girl, and I believe in marriage. [...] It was hard for me to accept
that this was the way I was going to have a family."
Moynahan had nothing to worry about, though. Her friends and family backed her up, especially
actor Will Smith, her co-star in I, Robot. She explained,
"He picked up that phone faster than anybody to make sure I was okay when things were getting
hectic."
It didn't take long for Moynahan to adjust to being a mother — she relished her pregnancy.
She told Harper's Bazaar,
"Being pregnant just felt so good. I was creating life on a daily basis, I felt beautiful, I
felt sexy."
The proud mother admitted to being the kind of person who can't help talking about their
kids, saying,
"I have become that mother I used to dread. Every time he does something, you think he's
a genius."
The actress spoke to Parade about the challenges of balancing motherhood with a social life.
She explained,
"I'd rather spend time with my son than anyone in the world. But I think it's also important
to take care of yourself. Make time to see your girlfriends or get to the gym. If you're
only working or only spending time with your family, you're out of balance. You have to
make you a priority."
It isn't just eating healthy that keeps Moynahan in tip-top shape; she also has her workouts
to thank for that. It's not something that was new to her as an adult, either. A tomboy
growing up, Moynahan still lives a very active lifestyle. She told WebMD,
"I grew up playing sports and I was on teams my whole life. I was also active during the
summers in tennis camps and basketball camps. I've just always been active; it's been part
of my lifestyle my entire life. There was never a moment that I wasn't working out.
I think it's been instilled from my childhood."
While people were somewhat surprised to learn that Moynahan's son with Brady doesn't want
to be a professional football player, Moynahan did tell Kelly Ripa in early 2017 that he's
interested in a variety of sports. It's pretty clear that Moynahan and Brady's son gets his
love of sports and being active from both his parents.
Moynahan started modeling after graduating from high school, but she could have entered
the business long before that. She told the Women of Upstate New York magazine,
"Apparently, my mother said I was approached [to model] my entire life, but I was never
aware of that."
Far from being a child star, Moynahan had to convince her parents — who wanted her
to go to business school — to let her try to make it as a model and an actress. Moynahan's
determination to make it in the industry paid off, and she was able to parlay her success
as a model into an even more successful acting career. She explained,
"What I'm always so grateful for is that I've had the opportunities. It's a tricky business,
and I think modeling gave me somewhat of an open door. [...] So I felt fortunate that
I was able to have that opportunity, and that Hollywood in general kind of welcomed me."
Moynahan has played a lot of strong characters throughout her career — her roles are definitely
not stereotypical damsels in distress. Even when her character is in distress, she's certainly
not delicate. She told Irish America,
"I tend to gravitate towards material where the women are strong. It's got a bit more
depth to it, there's a bit more intelligence to the character. I think in a lot of the
romantic comedies the women are portrayed as being kind of ditzy, and I just can't relate
to it. So I think it is harder for me to pursue those parts."
Some people age gracefully. For others, like Moynahan, age isn't even a factor. After being
asked whether she viewed her 45th birthday as a milestone, she told Parade in 2017,
"I really don't pay attention to age. I got married last year, I look good and I'm having
a lot of fun, so I don't really know when age matters. [...] I would rather be 45 than
25. [...] I feel better now! I just saw a quote that said: 'Things I used to trip over,
I walk over now.' I think of things that really bothered me at 20, it's like, 'Why did I waste
so much energy on that?'"
Moynahan said she has her mother, who according to her is, quote, "Grace Kelly beautiful,"
to thank for her youthful looks. That and the fact that she eats healthy, avoiding junk
food. She added,
"Also, I don't smoke, and I drink a lot of water. I have one cup of coffee or tea, maybe
two, and then the rest is water."
Moynahan comes from an Irish-American family, which heavily influenced her upbringing. She
told Irish America,
"[My family] watched a lot of news and news shows like 60 Minutes.”
Keeping up with current events is something she says is ingrained in not only Irish culture,
but in her family dynamics as well. She explained,
"In Ireland you go out with your friends and you talk and you talk and you really beat
it out, which is not something that's common in American culture. But definitely in my
family we do. When a subject comes up, we are talking about it for hours."
Although she grew up in America, she feels right at home in Ireland, where she has extended
family. She shared,
"I like rain, I like cloudy days. I always found that driving around Ireland, you could
be in the middle of a rain shower and up the road would be pure sunshine and rainbows.
It's beautiful."
Moynahan leads a busy life, so she has to make time if she wants to relax and unwind.
In those brief moments she does get to relax, she likes to use the time to read. She told
WebMD,
"I really enjoy escaping into a book. But it's hard to find that time."
Her favorite books are fiction, and among her top picks are Jonathan Tropper's This
is Where I Leave You, and the works of Philip Roth, who she revealed to Irish America is
one of her favorite authors.
Not only does Moynahan have beauty and brains, but her love of reading has inspired some
of her philanthropy work, proving she has a huge heart as well. Moynahan has served
on the National Board of Directors for Jumpstart, a program that prides itself on providing
"language, literacy, and social-emotional programming for preschool children from under-resourced
communities and [promoting] quality early learning for all."
The 2006 breakup between Moynahan and Tom Brady was amicable, a rep for Moynahan said
in a statement at the time, according to People magazine. The media was relentless, though,
especially when news of Moynahan's pregnancy broke. Years later, Moynahan opened up about
how difficult it was for her to be dealing with a breakup and a pregnancy, all in the
public eye.
She wrote about feeling "assaulted" in her 2019 book Our Shoes, Our Selves, saying that
the attention from the press and the public made her temporarily "reclusive." She wrote,
"I became wildly private. I shared little and only with a select few."
The resulting trauma followed her for years. In 2019, Moynahan told Yahoo's BUILD series,
"If I was going into a public space still or walking through the streets, sometimes
I change my posture or hide a little bit because of that period of time. Because of that attention
that was unwanted."
"I didn't realize that I was still carrying some of that around with me."
Moynahan claims she didn't even know how much it had impacted her until she started working
on the book. She added,
"And so I'm still working through that and kind of shedding that now."
The late 2000s were difficult for Moynahan. Not only was she dealing with a broken heart,
adjusting to motherhood, and dealing with the intrusive press, but she also experienced
a lot of anxiety in that time. She told Harper's Bazaar in 2008,
"Everyone says, 'You give birth, you go home, and you have this amazing baby and it's just
beautiful.' And I walked in and I just started sobbing."
There was also the physical aftermath of having a baby. Moynahan required two surgeries after
giving birth to correct hernias caused by pregnancy, and recovery was hard. All of this
contributed to the actress feeling "lost," but she started to find herself again after
spotting a particular pair of motorcycle boots in Los Angeles in 2007. The boots had a fierceness
that Moynahan wanted to embody herself, so she bought them. In Our Shoes, Our Selves,
she wrote,
"It was a long road of learning what my new life would be like, and those boots have been
on my feet every step of the way."
Things may not have worked out with Tom Brady, but Moynahan is now happily married to businessman
Andrew Frankel. A source told People magazine that the couple was introduced by a friend,
and they tied the knot in 2015. The marriage also created a blended family, as Frankel
has three sons from a previous relationship. Describing her husband in a 2015 appearance
on the Rachael Ray Show, Moynahan said,
"He's the nicest guy ever. Genuine, kind and sensitive. He's the best."
"I finally figured it out in my 40s that when it works, it works, and there doesn't have
to be drama."
Moynahan and Frankel keep a relatively low profile. Considering Moynahan's past difficulties
with the paparazzi, it's easy to see why they would want to stay out of the public eye.
Frankel doesn't even appear to have any public social media profiles. While Moynahan does,
she rarely posts pictures of her family, and the photos on her Instagram are more likely
to be work-related.
"I was in the limelight for things I didn't really want to be in the limelight for, and
so I'm very private, so if I want something out I'd like to do it on my terms."
Moynahan was understandably frightened when she realized she was about to become a single
mother. In a 2011 interview with More, the actress revealed that, while Tom Brady was
present at the hospital on the day she gave birth, he wasn't exactly by her side. She
admitted,
"He certainly wasn't holding my hand while I pushed."
Since then, Moynahan and Brady have worked together to co-parent their son, John. Brady's
wife Gisele and Moynahan's husband Andrew are also fixtures in John's life. Bündchen,
who has two kids of her own with Brady, told The Independent that she thinks of herself
as a "bonus mom" to John.
Speaking about her ex-husband and what she's grateful for, Moynahan told People magazine,
"We both found partners that not only supported us in raising that child, but also loved our
child as if he was their own. My son is surrounded by love."
Despite all of the drama that surrounded the end of their relationship, Brady and Moynahan
are now teammates when it comes to raising their son together. In 2015, leaked emails
from Brady's account showed that the two not only regularly communicate with each other
about their son, but that they have a friendly relationship with each other.
Moynahan even seems to have an amicable relationship with Brady's wife. All three have been spotted
together, cheering on John at a baseball game, and Moynahan has said that you'll never hear
her breathe a bad word about Brady or Bündchen. She told More,
"I have a relationship with these people on a daily basis."
Moynahan even publicly supported her ex after his team won the NFC Championship in 2021.
On Instagram, she posted a pic of Brady and said she "could not be more proud."
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