Gisele Bündchen is speaking candidly about the challenges of co-parenting with ex-husband and retired NFL quarterback Tom Brady.
"I think, you know, there’s easier days than other[s], but I think, you know, it's amazing that the kids – they're super smart children," she joked, referencing the couple's two kids, Benjamin, 14, and Vivian, 11, on ABC'S "Impact x Nightline" with Robin Roberts.
"They know what they can get away with. So I think it's natural that [they have] different rules and then kids just adapt. And they're gonna try to do what they want, and I can only control what I do," she explained. "I think for me, now it's really about the balance."
GISELE BÜNDCHEN CHOKES UP ABOUT TOM BRADY DIVORCE IN NEW INTERVIEW: 'CAN I HAVE A LITTLE MOMENT?'
"Tom has time with them and I have time with them, which I think is amazing," she said of their custody agreement. Bündchen believes that the split time has been "more enriching" for the children. "They get to learn from two different worlds and that's wonderful for them."
In an interview with Harper's Bazaar earlier this year, the Brazilian-born beauty alluded to her and Brady's different parenting styles. Speaking about the starkly different circumstances in which she and her children were raised, Bündchen wants to ensure they have skills to thrive on their own.
"‘The way you make your room, the way you organize and make your bed is the way you’re going to do your life,’" she admitted she's told her children. "‘If you’re not learning here and now, then when and with who?’
"Sometimes, I get pushback, especially because now they’re in two different homes and there are two different ways. But I feel like I owe it to my kids, because of what my mom taught me," she said of her children, who go back and forth between their parents.
APP USERS CLICK HERE TO VIEW INSTAGRAM
LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
In October 2022, the couple announced they had gone their separate ways after 13 years of marriage. Bündchen still gets choked up speaking about it.
"You didn’t think the marriage would end," Roberts said. "No one goes into a marriage thinking it’s going to end, but it does."
"And it's heartbreaking, you know, to go through that," Bündchen responded.
"You said it was, I think the phrase you used, the ‘death of a dream,'" Roberts said, referencing public remarks Bündchen made after the divorce was finalized. "How are you?"
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER
"Well, when you say…" she began before turning her head away from the camera. "Sorry guys, I didn’t know, can I have a little moment?" she asked, trying to collect herself.
After doing some breathing exercises, Bündchen got introspective, telling Roberts that the divorce was "a transition that had to take place."
"I don't think you wish for that, you know. But I think sometimes in life things happen… I feel so blessed because like, I wouldn't change anything in my life. I had incredible experiences, I learned so much, I have my children, which are the biggest blessings in my life," she told Roberts. "I get to learn new things… I'm grateful for all of it. I'm grateful for every lesson."
The seven-time Super Bowl champion is also father to 16-year-old Jack Moynahan, whom he shares with actress Bridget Moynahan. Bündchen has known Jack since he was an infant, and referenced him in conversation with Roberts.
"I raised him… I love him," she said of Brady's eldest son.
In June, Brady spoke about co-parenting with Bündchen, admitting he thought they'd "done an amazing job."
"I think for me, when you decide to have children, that's a big undertaking, and I don't think you take it lightly. And I think these kids that come up under your roof, you want to provide them with values, so that when they move forward in their life, they have a real solid base and foundation," Brady told "Entertainment Tonight." "And I think myself and their mom have done an amazing job of providing that.
"We're never a finished product. The kids aren't finished products. At the end of the day, we're learning along with them. And all you can do is the best you can do with the opportunities that you have, and the challenges you have, and we all have unique challenges to our life that we deal with."
