Tom & Gisele: MARRIAGE IN CRISIS

NFL STAR TOM BRADY AND HIS MODEL WIFE, GISELE BÜNDCHEN, ARE AT ODDS OVER HIS CAREER DEMANDS.

WHERE in the world is Tom Brady? That was the question on every football fan's mind when the star quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers mysteriously vanished from training camp for 11 days in late August. After the team's coach announced Tom had left to "deal with some personal things," rumors about his whereabouts ran rampant. There was speculation he was having health issues and even talk he'd been secretly shooting episodes of Fox's The Masked Singer! (Tom denied the reports on Twitter.) Finally, it was revealed he'd spent some of the time off with wife Gisele Bündchen and their kids at an ultra-private resort in the Bahamas.

It was more make-or-break trip than fun in the sun. Insiders tell Star Gisele, 42, is still fuming about Tom's 180 on hanging up his cleats and was intent on laying down some ground rules about family time. In March, just two months after announcing he was leaving football after 22 seasons and seven Super Bowl wins, the 45-year-old athlete suddenly announced he was returning to the field. "Gisele was stressed out and concerned about Tom's change of heart," says the source, adding that she was furious he was reneging on a pledge to spend more time with kids Benjamin, 12, and Vivian, 9 (Tom also shares 15-year-old son Jack with ex-girlfriend Bridget Moynihan). "It's caused tension in the marriage for sure."

DIVORCE TALKS

Tom had initially left the NFL in a desperate bid to save his marriage. In 2020, he admitted to radio host Howard Stern that Gisele was unhappy with the state of their relationship and that she was resentful because she was doing all of the work at home while he was off playing football. "She's sitting there going, 'Well, when are you going to do things for the house? When are you going to take the kids to school and do that?" Tom said. "So I needed to make a change in that."