S Poddar
Gisele Bündchen, the supermodel and former Victoria’s Secret Angel, is said to be pregnant with her first child with Joaquim Valente, her jiu-jitsu instructor and current boyfriend. The news of their relationship emerged in late 2022, and since June 2023, the couple seems to have become serious, now eagerly awaiting this new chapter together.
On October 28, friends close to the couple reveal that Bündchen, who is 44 years of age, and Valente, 35, both are “happy for this new chapter in their life” and “look forward to creating a peaceful loving environment for the whole family.” The Independent reached out for comment to Bündchen’s representatives, but to date, no official statements have come.
It is a steady romance between Bündchen and Valente, who started as the best of friends. Bündchen started dating Valente when she split with NFL icon Tom Brady in October 2022. Their first public appearance together was with Valente’s brother Jordan and Bündchen’s children, Benjamin, 14, and Vivian, 11, in Costa Rica. At the time, insiders said the reunion was strictly platonic, stating to Entertainment Tonight that “Gisele and Joaquim are not dating,” because Valente is a teacher to her kids.
In the last two years, Bündchen would occasionally mention her relationship with Valente and how much this person actually means in her life. In an interview with Vanity Fair in March 2023, Bündchen described Valente as “our teacher and, most importantly, a person that I admire and trust.” She also appreciated the energy he brings to her family: “It’s so good to have that kind of energy, to have my kids around that type of energy.”
Many people might not know that the bond between Bündchen and Valente dates much further back. In early 2022, Bündchen started taking self-defense lessons with Valente and his brothers in Miami. She posted an Instagram post at the time revealing how much strength and confidence she gained from practicing jiu-jitsu. In the video’s caption where she did her moves, Bündchen said, “The more tools we have in our toolbox, the better. I feel stronger, more confident, and empowered since I started practicing self-defense. It’s an important skill for all, but especially for us women. Thank you @ValenteBrothers for being awesome teachers and for making training so much fun.”
Amidst this divorce, rumors emerged questioning the timing of her involvement with Valente, since some people claimed that she must have begun dating him right before her divorce was ever finalized with Brady. Bündchen responded to these claims by strongly denying them. She addressed this issue in an interview conducted with the New York Times in March 2023, where she said, “This is something that happens to a lot of women who get blamed when they have the courage to leave an unhealthy relationship and are labeled as being unfaithful.” She further described the pressure that women experience from their communities and family members and stated, “Of course for me, it just happens to be a little bit amplified.”
Bündchen has made it very clear that she prefers her private relationships out of the limelight, as “no one really knows what happens between two people, only the two people in the relationship.” The private life she enjoys always gets the media spotlight on her, yet Bündchen has always taken precautions to keep her journey with Valente away from the media eye as she concentrates on developing a loving home for her children and new family.
After the divorce, Bündchen and Brady agreed on joint custody for Benjamin and Vivian. The co-parenting of both appears to be centered around the welfare of their children, and both have taken the steps to ensure the peaceful nature of their family life.
As their first child with each other is to soon arrive, Bündchen and Valente’s followers are already in the right mood to welcome this new stage in the lives of these two lovebirds. After all, this marks for Bündchen not just a new page in her private life, but it will also represent an extension of those values she has recently championed: empowerment, trust, and resilience.
