Is Gisele Really Dating Her Jiu-Jitsu Teacher?
Here’s the deal with those rumors.
Gisele Bündchen and Tom Brady confirmed their divorce on Oct. 28, letting their Instagram followers know that their split had been finalized. Since then, there’s been a lot of eyes on Bündchen’s dating life. On Nov. 12, the model was spotted out and about with a new man while on vacation in Costa Rica. So, is Bündchen dating this mystery man — aka Joaquim Valente, her jiu-jitsu teacher? Though they looked close in the photos, it may not be what it appears.
Since the photos were published on Nov. 14, multiple sources have been quashing the rumors. “Joaquim and his two brothers have instructed Gisele and the children in martial arts for the past year and a half,” a source told Page Six, adding that Bündchen and Valente’s relationship is “strictly platonic and professional.” Another source told the outlet, “Jordan and Joaquim travel with the family when they’re out of town because the kids are homeschooled.”
That same day, a source told People a similar story. “He and his two brothers are Gisele and the kids' martial arts teachers," the insider claimed. "They are not dating." Another insider told TMZ that the Costa Rica getaway was the opposite of romantic — reportedly, there were six kids and eight adults total, so not exactly an intimate date night.
However, a source close to Bündchen and Brady told TMZ that the trip seemed suspicious, wondering why Valente would be invited on vacation. "It always seemed weird she just one day abruptly ended the marriage,” the insider claimed.
“Abrupt” might not be the right word for it. For months, outlets were reporting on tension between Brady and Bündchen, following Brady’s decision to re-join the NFL. “Tom and Gisele are in a fight right now,” an insider told Page Six in September. Another explained, “There’s been trouble in the marriage over his decision to un-retire. Gisele has always been the one with the kids. They had agreed he would retire to focus on the family, then he changed his mind.”
Even Bündchen’s public statement seemed to hint at long-standing strains on their relationship. “The decision to end a marriage is never easy but we have grown apart and while it is, of course, difficult to go through something like this, I feel blessed for the time we had together and only wish the best for Tom always,” she wrote in October.
Although Bündchen has every right to move on (whenever she wants), it sounds like she and Valente are nothing more than friends.
