Gisele Bündchen opens up about her divorce from Tom Brady for the first time

In a new interview with Vanity Fair, the former Mrs. Brady opens up about all of the public rumors surrounding the big “Gisele and Tom” divorce. She even addresses the public speculation that she’s a “witch”—which, honestly, we love to see it.

Perhaps the biggest rumor surrounding the couple’s split was that Tom continued to play football despite Gisele’s wishes and his promises to retire. (And, honestly, who could possibly blame her?) According to Gisele, this simply isn’t true.

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In the interview, Gisele says that particular rumor was “very hurtful” and “the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“People really made it about that,” she said. “What’s been said is one piece of a much bigger puzzle. It’s not so black and white.”

Though that’s not to say Tom’s decision to continue his football career didn’t fundamentally change their marriage.

“Sometimes you grow together; sometimes you grow apart,” Bundchen explained. “When I was 26 years old and he was 29 years old, we met, we wanted a family, we wanted things together. As time goes by, we realize that we just wanted different things, and now we have a choice to make. That doesn’t mean you don’t love the person. It just means that in order for you to be authentic and truly live the life that you want to live, you have to have somebody who can meet you in the middle, right? It’s a dance. It’s a balance.”

“When you love someone, you don’t put them in a jail and say, ‘You have to live this life.’ You set them free to be who they are, and if you want to fly the same direction, then that’s amazing.”

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Last fall, Gisele’s interview with ELLE suggested that she wasn’t happy taking a backseat to Tom’s career.

“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,” she said of her husband. “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.”

She also told the magazine that she was ready to steer her own career again.

“I feel very fulfilled in that way, as a mother and as a wife,” she says. “And now it’s going to be my turn. It’s not like I’m going to be in the valley forever.”

As for rumors that Gisele is a “witch,” she takes them in (amused) stride. She acknowledged her obsession with crystals and astrology.

“This is why they called me a witch, I guess,” she said. “If you want to call me a witch because I love astrology, I love crystals, I pray, I believe in the power of nature, then go ahead.”

As for her marriage, Gisele has no regrets. She likens the divorce to “the death” of her “dream,” which is probably a sentiment a love of divorced couples can relate to.

“It’s tough because you imagine your life was going to be a certain way, and you did everything you could, you know?”

It hasn’t jaded her on love in general, however.

“I believed in fairy tales when I was a kid. I think it’s beautiful to believe in that. I mean, I’m so grateful I did.”