File photo: 21 February 2019 Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen attend the 2019 Hollywood For Science Gala in Los Angeles, California | Photo by KEVIN WINTER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP
NFL star Tom Brady and Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen will file for divorce on Friday, ending their 13-year marriage, multiple US media reports said.
People magazine and TMZ.com said Brady and Bundchen had reached a settlement agreement and that divorce papers would be filed in Florida later on Friday.
The move to get a divorce comes after weeks of speculation concerning the couple’s marriage, which reportedly came under strain after Brady reversed a decision to retire from American football.
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Brady and Bundchen posted similar statements on Instagram saying they had reached an amicable agreement over the terms of their divorce.
“In recent days my wife and I finalized our divorce from one another after 13 years of marriage,” seven-time Super Bowl champion Brady wrote.
“We arrived at this decision amicably and with gratitude for the time we spent together,” Brady added, describing the decision to proceed with the divorce as “painful and difficult.”
“We wish only the best for each other as we pursue whatever new chapters in our lives that are yet to be written,” he said, making an appeal for privacy.
The wording was echoed by Bundchen, who said in her post, “The decision to end a marriage is never easy but we have grown apart.”
Both emphasized they would continue to co-parent their children together and prioritize their wellbeing.
Brady and Bundchen, who married in 2009, have two children together, Benjamin 12, and daughter Vivian Lake, nine. Brady also has a 15-year-old son, John Edward, with ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynahan.
Having been among the first publications to break the story of NFL Quarterback Tom Brady and supermodel Gisele Bundchen’s impending divorce, The New York Post first cited “multiple sources” as saying that the couple had hired lawyers and were starting to sort out the financial and personal details of a divorce.
After this news broke, American broadcasters CNN and NBC also reported the development.
After months of tracking perceived discord in their marriage, The Post has been considered the foremost source of developments related to the couple.
The Post even speculated that Bündchen and Brady had fought over his decision to unretire from his football career after 22 seasons.
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You will recall, Brady first announced his retirement in February, at the age of 44. A month later announced that he would be returning to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for a 23rd N.F.L. season.
Brady and Bundchen began dating over 15 years ago and have been married for 13 years.
According to The New York Times, Brady is widely considered football’s greatest quarterback, with seven Super Bowl wins (six of them with the New England Patriots), and the most touchdowns and yards passing in N.F.L. history.
In 2022, he was No. 1 on Forbes’s list of highest-paid N.F.L. players.
Gisele Bundchen, 42, is a star in her own right and is considered one of the most recognisable faces in the world.
The publication reports that as of 2018, she had appeared on 1,200 magazine covers, in 450 fashion editorials, and had graced the catwalk of nearly 500 fashion shows.
In 2016, Gisele Bundchen was reportedly the highest-paid (and richest) model in the world.
She magnanimously left all that behind, choosing to take a step back from her work in order to focus on their family while her husband worked away at his goals.
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Additional reporting by Kaunda Selisho
