When Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady went on a blind date,
they had no idea what their future would hold. They seem to have it all now,
so how did rumors of divorce make the couple rethink things? Keep watching for the details.
To say it was a surprise when Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen first met is a bit of an understatement.
Brady told Howard Stern that the two were introduced on a blind date in 2006,
but that he was more than aware that his future wife was:
"The most beautiful woman I've seen in my life."
However, the timing wasn't exactly ideal for either of them. As Brady recalled in Life & Style:
"I had gotten out of a relationship and she had been out of a long-term relationship that she had,
so when we met I wasn't quite sure if I was ready for a relationship."
Gisele also spoke about the blind date in an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.
She shared that the experience was actually part of a string of blind
dates that friends had been setting her up on in a bid to find her a new boyfriend,
and admitted that she was into Brady as soon as she met him.
"But you know, when I saw those kind eyes, I literally fell in love, like,
right away. I was, like, what? He was just so, you know how sweet he is."
Even though they both clearly had big feelings for one another right away,
Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen's emerging relationship wasn't smooth for long.
The pair were rocked by the news that Brady's ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan
was expecting a baby with the football star only two months into their own relationship.
In her memoir, "Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life,"
Bündchen admitted that she struggled with the news, explaining that the
public found out about the pregnancy the day after she did, according to Us Weekly.
Bündchen also admitted that she contemplated ending the relationship then and there because the
pregnancy news seemed a little impossible to deal with. In an interview with CBS, Bündchen said:
"We met, we started dating, everything is great, and then this happens,
so I felt like I didn't know what to do. Do I just run away?"
While coming to terms with Moynahan's pregnancy was tough for Brady and Bündchen,
they eventually pulled through.
Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen wasted no time getting married after announcing their engagement
in January 2009, according to Us Weekly. Bündchen later said that Brady's proposal was the most
romantic thing he'd ever done, telling Vogue that Brady set the stage by telling Bündchen that her
apartment had flooded and she needed to come over to his place while it was being taken care of.
When she arrived, Brady had decorated the entire home. She recalled:
"When I got there, the whole apartment had candles and rose petals,
and then he went down on his knees to propose."
The pair actually had two weddings! Their first was in front of 20 guests in Santa Monica,
California, on February 26, 2009. Brides has revealed that Bündchen actually wore
two wedding dresses for the intimate affair: a lace-trimmed wedding gown for the ceremony
and a sequined Dolce & Gabbana gown for their at-home reception.
Brady and Bündchen traveled to Costa Rica for their second wedding in April 2009,
according to Us Weekly. The guest list at their second wedding was similarly tight,
with only 25 people invited to their sunset ceremony.
The newlyweds announced Bündchen's first pregnancy a few months after their second wedding in June
2009. Bündchen told People that family was the most important thing in the world to her,
so it's not a surprise that she and Brady were ready for kids so quickly.
She explained:
"I think family is the base to everything. I think
that is one of the things [I'm] most grateful for."
The pair's son Benjamin was born February 2010 at home in Boston — in their bathtub.
Brady and Bündchen's second child together was born in December 2012, with Bündchen
herself announcing their daughter's arrival on Facebook, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
With the arrival of their daughter, Brady and Bündchen became parents of three,
including Brady's oldest son Jack. In 2009,
Bündchen told Vanity Fair she feels Jack is her child as much as any of the kids, saying:
"I want him to have a great relationship with his mom, because that's important,
but I love him the same way as if he were mine."
Like many couples, Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady have weathered both highs and lows.
In 2015, Tom Brady was accused of participating in a scam that came
to be known as "Deflategate" and that would even threaten the security of his marriage.
The scandal remains confusing even years after it happened,
but the central allegation was that the Patriots, Brady's football team at the time,
had intentionally deflated footballs that were used in a championship game.
"I get the snap. I drop back. I throw the ball. You know,
I grip it and I try to throw the ball. That's the extent of me touching the football."
Brady was suspended for four games and his team ordered to pay $1 million,
according to Elite Daily.
The scandal reportedly had an enormous impact on his home life. A source told Us Weekly that
Brady and Bündchen didn't celebrate their birthdays together that year,
and that Brady was taking out his frustration following the football scandal on his wife.
The source explained:
"Tom's become very nasty and irritable and started acting out on her."
The behavior was said to have pushed
Bündchen to have a conversation with a divorce lawyer about her options.
However, Us Weekly later noted that in an interview with Boston
radio's "Dennis & Callahan," Brady insisted everything was fine. He said:
"I've been very blessed to have an incredible relationship with my life partner.
I don't think anything would ever get in the way of that."
Eventually, the couple must have decided to open up about what they went through. In 2018,
Gisele Bündchen revealed the marriage struggles she and Tom Brady faced together, explaining that
most followed the births of their children and not the Deflategate scandal as many believed.
In her memoir "Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life," Bündchen
admits that the time period was rough. She wrote:
"You're overwhelmed and tired when you're not the nicest partner."
Bündchen also owned up to the internal struggle she dealt with after becoming a mother.
While noting that she had wanted to become a mom most of her life, Bündchen still said that
the reality of having kids surprised her in a pretty dramatic way. As she put it in her book:
"When I became a mom, I kind of lost myself. It was like a part of me died."
Both Brady and Bündchen have also shared that the majority of parenting duties have fallen
to Bündchen while Brady's football career has been the family's focus, meaning a lot of their
emotional life has been tied to major decisions Brady faces, such as when he will retire.
As she puts it in her memoir, when you choose to live alongside a partner:
"You suffer with them and you have joy with them."
In December 2019, it was Tom Brady's turn to open up about what makes his
marriage to Gisele Bündchen work. Brady laid everything out with a quick and snappy acronym:
CCC, or, quote, "Clear current communication."
Brady explained in more detail what that really looks like for the two
while speaking to Jason Kennedy for an E! special, noting that as two, quote, "ambitious people,"
there are points at which it's been difficult for the pair to stay connected. He said:
"A lot of the times, I'm going one direction and she's going in the other. It's ships passing in
the night. I'm going to football, and she's got things she's doing, and oh, by the way, the kids."
While being interviewed for Super Soul Sunday around the same time period,
Brady said Bündchen is also the ideal person to return to each day.
He explained that his wife has the power to keep him grounded and happy, noting:
"I just love having to come home to someone that engages me every night. She makes me laugh."
Tom Brady has continued to open up about his marriage to Gisele Bündchen,
and in April 2020, he admitted to Howard Stern that he hasn't always
been as present for his family as his wife would like him to be.
Brady explained that after spending most of the year devoted to the football season,
he would find himself wanting to move on to other obligations and pursuits,
such as football training, as soon as the season ended.
He explained that Bündchen, who has her own career, was frustrated by this. He explained:
"And she's sitting there going, 'When are you going to do things for the house?
When are you going to take the kids to school and do that?'"
Brady went on to explain that Bündchen had to remind him that she has her own
goals and hopes as well, and that being part of a
marriage means each partner gives the other time to pursue such aspirations.
Things finally clicked for Brady when Bündchen wrote him a letter about how she felt about their
arrangement. The football star said he realized he needed to balance everything, explaining:
"You can get caught up in your life where you think a relationship is great,
because it only works for you. And the point of a relationship is that it has to work for both."
Both Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen have been open about the fact that
Brady's career as a football player has been the family's major focus. In fact,
Bündchen is often clearly Brady's biggest fan, and is often photographed attending
games alongside their children, and she seems to love sharing photos of herself and
the kids on Instagram as they're getting ready to cheer on Brady ahead of games.
Bündchen has also used Instagram to support her husband as he's transitioned from playing for
one team to another. In February 2021, Bündchen commended her husband on the platform, noting that
his transition to playing in Tampa, Florida, had gone more smoothly than many expected.
She wrote:
"A lot of people didn't believe you could do it, but you all showed that with time,
dedication, trust in one another and with teamwork anything is possible."
Brady has been too happy to thank Bündchen for her support,
even telling Howard Stern that his life changed for the better because:
"I found a wife and a woman that I saw myself with for the rest of
my life and she's been an amazing supporter in everything I've done."
A side effect of all the support that Gisele Bündchen has been able to give
her husband Tom Brady over the years seems to be that her own career has suffered.
While speaking on the podcast "Let's Go!" in October 2021, Brady admitted as much.
Per the New York Post, Brady noted that the pair have had to contend with the issue,
admitting that Bündchen hasn't been able to work
as much as she would have liked in the ten-plus years they've been together.
He said:
"I think my wife has, you know, held down the house for a long time now,
and I think there's things that she wants to accomplish."
The publication goes on to note that Bündchen had her own thriving career
years before she met Brady. The Brazilian-born model signed on with Victoria's Secret in 2000
and walked international runways for years before officially retiring from modeling in 2015.
She was so successful that she even earned the title of the highest-paid model in the world.
For his part, the football pro hasn't quite pegged down a retirement date.
Despite the ups and downs, it's clear that Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen are committed to seeing
their marriage through for the rest of their lives. And to that end, it seems body language
experts believe the two have what it takes. Body language professional Karen Donaldson
told Women's Health as much when she analyzed several photos of the pair in August 2021.
First and foremost, Donaldson told the publication that she believes the two
get one another on a truly deep, emotional level. While looking at
photos from the pair embracing at the 2019 Met Gala, she explained:
"Their stance allows them to align their hearts with each
other. This tells us that there's an intense emotional connection."
In other photos, Donaldson pointed out that Bündchen is often photographed
leaning her head on Brady, which indicates she feels a deep security with her husband.
As for Bündchen's tendency to hold Brady's face when they kiss or embrace,
all signs are positive. Donaldson said:
"When we touch someone's face,
that's an intimate and personal gesture where we show emotion through our actions."
"To the love of my life, you inspire me every day to be the best person I can be. Thanks for being
the most wonderful example of what's possible in this world."
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