The (Un-Retired) Quarterback and the Supermodel! Find Out All About Tom Brady's Marriage to Gisele

Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen seemed like a match made in heaven: The most celebrated quarterback of all time with a supermodel as his biggest cheerleader. However, if reports are to be believed, Brady's first love will always be football—and it may have gotten in the way of his marriage.

In early October 2022, Brady and Bündchen each hired divorce lawyers, PEOPLE reported. The couple's rough patch reportedly started when Brady un-retired from the NFL in early 2022 to play for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The former Victoria's Secret Angel spoke of the tension herself in an interview with Elle in September 2022, explaining, "Obviously, I have my concerns—this is a very violent sport, and I have my children and I would like him to be more present. I have definitely had those conversations with him over and over again. But ultimately, I feel that everybody has to make a decision that works for [them]. He needs to follow his joy, too."

Brady previously admitted he likely wouldn't be able to even be at the top of his game without Bündchen to hold him down at home.

"I think without her, there's no way I could be doing what I'm doing," he told PEOPLE in June 2022. "It takes an amazing partnership to do it. I have an amazing wife who's always looking out for our kids, always looking out for our family. She's a good influence on me. She's been a great influence on me for a long time. She's just a great woman."

Behind the public gushing, however, it appears there was trouble in paradise in private.

In August 2022, Brady took a leave of absence from the Bucs training camp, telling press later, "Everyone has different situations they're dealing with, and we all have unique challenges to our lives. I'm 45 years old, man. There's a lot of s—t going on, so you just have to try and figure out life the best you can. You know, it's a continuous process." By September 2022, reports claimed the couple had been living apart for more than a month.

Keep reading to find out all about Tom Brady's marriage to wife Gisele.

Related: Tom Brady's Net Worth Will Get Even Higher When He Retires From the NFL

Who is Tom Brady’s wife?

Brady and Brazilian-born Bündchen have been married since 2009. At the time of their nuptials, he already notched his first three Super Bowl victories, while she was considered the top supermodel in the world. Her name was nearly synonymous with the Victoria’s Secret Angels campaign (although she'd ended her contract with the lingerie brand two years prior) and she was the highest-paid model in the world for 15 years in a row. Since then, she retired from the runway in 2015 and wrote a memoir in 2018 called Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life.

How did Tom Brady and Gisele meet?

Even celebs go on blind dates, and this powerhouse twosome met on one in December 2006. They were introduced through a friend of Brady’s; he didn’t know if he was ready for a relationship, having just gotten out of one, but the doubt vanished when he saw his future wife. “When she walked in I just thought she was the most beautiful woman I’ve seen in my life,” he told Howard Stern.

Bündchen felt the same. "I knew right away—the first time I saw him," she recalled in 2009. "The moment I saw him, he smiled and I was like, 'That is the most beautiful, charismatic smile I've ever seen!' You know that feeling of, like, you can't get enough? From the first day we met, we've never spent one day without speaking to each other."

They also found that they had shared values. "He's very close to his family," Bündchen later told Vanity Fair. "He's Catholic. His parents have been married 40 years. He's got a pure heart. That's all that matters—he's got the purest heart."

At the start, there was just one problem: Shortly after they got together, Brady found out that his ex-girlfriend, Blue Bloods star Bridget Moynahan, was pregnant with his first child. “I felt my world had been turned upside down,” Bündchen wrote in 2018 in her memoir. However, she and Brady soon adjusted.

“I think we all made the best of that situation,” Brady shared in an interview. “He’s the most amazing son … My son Jack, my heart explodes when I think of him. He’s the greatest kid you can ever ask for.”

Who did Gisele date before she married Tom Brady?

Before meeting Brady in 2006, Bündchen had been in a six-year relationship with actor Leonardo DiCaprio from 1999 to 2005. However, toward the end of their relationship, she was under a lot of stress and dealing with anxiety and panic attacks. As a result, she started to pursue a healthier lifestyle—and saw DiCaprio in a different light. "No longer numbing myself with smoking, drinking and too much work, I was becoming more and more aware of things that I’d chosen not to look at,” she told PORTER Magazine in 2019. “Was I alone in wanting to do some serious soul-searching while he stayed the same? In the end, unfortunately, the answer was yes."

Don't cry for DiCaprio, though—he's since dated a slew of supermodels under the age of 25 and is rumored to be involved with Gigi Hadid, who—gasp!—is 27 and a mom.

Who did Tom Brady date before Gisele?

Brady and Moynahan dated from 2004 to 2006, breaking things off soon before he met Bündchen. After finding out about her pregnancy, he was supportive, but "[Tom] was not in the [delivery] room," Moynahan once revealed in an interview. "He certainly wasn't holding my hand while I pushed." Still, Moynahan is sure that “my son has two loving parents and an extended family, whether it’s cousins or stepmothers or boyfriends. My son is surrounded by love.” Moynahan married businessman Andrew Frankel in 2015.

How did Tom Brady propose to Gisele?

After two years of dating, Brady was ready to pop the question. So he played a prank on Bündchen—sort of. He told her that her house was flooding so that she’d quickly return home. “When I got there, the whole apartment had candles and rose petals everywhere, and then he went down on his knees to propose, and I'm like, 'Get up!' because he just had surgery and had three staph infections," the supermodel recalled in a 2018 "73 Questions" interview with Vogue. "And I was like 'What are you doing?' He's like, 'I gotta go on my knees,' and I'm like, 'No, no, no! Get up, please!'"

When did Tom Brady marry Gisele?

There's more than one answer to that question! The couple first married on February 26, 2009, in Santa Monica, California in a private ceremony that only took 10 days to plan, according to Brady.

But come on: Do you really think an NFL star and a supermodel wouldn’t marry in some exotic location? Just two months later, in April 2009, they invited 25 or so people to another wedding in Costa Rica. This time, the event lasted three days and was held at Bündchen's house there. Still, only those close to the pair were invited. "The thing about it is, the day's for you," Brady said later that year. "It's nothing personal against anybody, but it's not about them. It's about what you and your wife need for that day."

How many children do Tom Brady and Gisele have?

In addition to Brady’s son Jack, born in 2007, he and Bündchen share two children: Benjamin, born in 2009, and Vivian Lake, their daughter, who was born in 2012. As for her stepson Jack, Bündchen wrote in her memoir that he “[made] my heart expand in ways I didn’t know was possible." In fact, her “bonus child” Jack was an inspiration to have children “sooner rather than later” as she wanted all the kids to be close in age. Both of her children had home births.

The couple is very aware of the unique position they’re in as parents, and Brady says they don’t want their kids to take their lives for granted. "Mom and Dad's life is very unique in this world. I don't want them to take those things for granted. I want them to make the impact in the world that they're gonna make. But they're gonna make it in their way, too."

Daughter Vivian had very serious thoughts about the family's move from New England to Florida last year once her dad signed with the Bucs. “We came to Florida for the last five months and my daughter’s like, ‘Daddy, what are we gonna do for Christmas? What are we gonna do for Halloween? Is there Halloween in Tampa?’” he said last year.

Related: Is Tom Brady the GOAT Dad? Get To Know the Super Bowl MVP's Kids

What is Tom Brady and Gisele's marriage like?

The nice thing about Brady and Bündchen's marriage is that they still look like they're having a ton of fun together. They still kiss in public. They dress up in goofy matching Halloween costumes. (One year they went as avocado toast!)

Related: This Healthy Guacamole Is Tom Brady and Gisele-Approved—So We Want Extra Scoops

They quote old songs to each other. Brady wished his wife a happy 40th in 2020 by quoting Stevie Wonder’s “You are the Sunshine of My Life," while this year, Bündchen posted, “You're just too good to be true. Can't take my eyes off of you”—lyrics from Frankie Valli's "Can't Take My Eyes Off You"—for her husband’s 44th birthday.

Even when times are tense, such as during his 2015 “Deflategate" scandal, Brady was vocal about the love he received from his wife. “We’re in a great place, I’ll just say that," he told a Boston sports radio show amid divorce rumors. "There’s no bigger supporter than I have with her and vice versa. I’ve been blessed to have an incredible relationship with my life partner, and I don’t think anything will ever get in the way of that.” After Brady was suspended for a number of games, Bündchen posted a photo on Instagram of the duo playing catch. “Don’t worry guys, I’ll keep him ready,” she captioned the shot.

It’s the simple things, Brady told Oprah Winfrey in 2018. “She makes me laugh," he said. "She flies in the sky and she's so creative and I'm very rooted… she can always count on me and I can always count on her."

That said, things aren't so rosy in 2022: Brady and Bündchen have each hired divorce lawyers, reports claim, amid rising tensions and even living separately. A source told PEOPLE that Brady ultimately may have to choose between being the star quarterback or being married.

What marriage tips do Gisele and Tom Brady have for the rest of us?

Like any married couple, Brady and Bündchen still have challenges. “It’s not like because I’m a football player, her life is going to stop. The challenging part for us is we are very ambitious people,” the athlete said in 2019. “A lot of the time, 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.” Brady said it’s important to take time for each other.

In fact, Brady opened up to Howard Stern a few years back about the time his wife wrote him a letter telling him she wasn't feeling fulfilled in their marriage, mainly because of Brady's commitment to his career. "It's a very heartfelt letter for her to say, 'This is where I'm at in our marriage,' and it's a good reminder for me that things are going to change and evolve over time," Brady explained. "You can get caught up in your life where you think a relationship is great because it only works for you. The point of a relationship it has to work for both. You better work on both because if you don't, ultimately, it's not sustainable."

Since then, Brady has continued to credit his wife for the success their marriage has had, despite the ups and downs. He told Michael Strahan in 2021. "She's the one that, you know, supports the family and, at the end of the day, makes a lot of sacrifices. She brings out the best version of me."

“I’ve been with my husband for more than 12 years now and, as you know, men are very… They want a lot of attention,” Gisele said in a 2020 interview. How does the former runway deal with that? “I think the important part is to have fully present moments with everybody. I think that leads to fulfillment, because they don’t have half of you, they have all of you in that moment and then they get recharged.”

Brady has his own advice. “We use a term in our house: CCC. Clear, current communication,” Brady explained in 2019. ”Clear, like, ‘This is exactly how I’m feeling.’ And current, not like, ‘This happened six months ago.’ And you communicate about it. I think that’s helped us a lot.”

Next, meet Luciana Barroso, the bartender who stole Stillwater star Matt Damon's heart.