Gisele Bündchen talks modeling and divorce

Gisele Bündchen opens up about her life as a model, her life now away from the runway and her headline-making divorce from football great Tom Brady, in a revealing interview with correspondent Lee Cowan for CBS News Sunday Morning”, which will be broadcast. Sunday September 24 on CBS and broadcast on Paramount+

“I’m in a different place in my life. I can choose more what I want,” Bündchen told Cowan at his part-time home in Costa Rica. “I think before I was surviving more, and now I’m living, which is different.”

Bündchen, 43, is one of the most famous models in the world. However, she told Cowan that she was stepping away from the track to show her true self. What the world saw of her, she said, was a persona she created to cope in the industry, even if work stress eventually led to panic attacks.

“You know, I was in tunnels. I couldn't breathe. And then I started being in the studios and I felt like I was being suffocated,” she said. “I lived on the 9th floor and had to go up the stairs because I was afraid of getting stuck in the elevator and hyperventilating. … You know, when you can't breathe even when the windows are open, you feel like I don't want to live like this, you know what I mean?

“Have you really thought about jumping?” » asked Cowan.

“Yeah. For about a second,” Bündchen replied.

Looking back, Bundchen said she wouldn't change anything about her life, including her marriage to Brady. Together for 16 years, their divorce was as public as their careers.

“I mean, it’s not what I dreamed of or what I hoped for,” she said. “My parents have been married for 50 years and I really wanted this to happen. But I think you have to accept, you know, sometimes the way you're in your 20s, it's sometimes you grow together, sometimes you grow apart. I mean, he's the father of my children, you know? So, I always wish him the best and am very grateful that he gave me wonderful children.

In this extensive interview, Bündchen also spoke with Cowan about her childhood, her family, living away from the spotlight, and how switching to a healthier lifestyle saved her life. She also talks about her new role as wellness ambassador for supplement company Gaia Herbs.

As a model, Bündchen considered herself a silent actress. Today, she wants people to see her for who she really is.

“I just think now I allow myself to introduce myself as Gisele rather than 'her,'” she said. “I don’t need to play a character. I can be me. And it's liberating.

Watch a clip of a clip above.

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