By now, you’ve very likely heard the news:
Gisele Bundchen is pregnant with her third child.
The news has come as somewhat of a shock to many observers because she only finalized her divorce from Tom Brady two years ago.
How has she moved on so quickly? To the point where she’s expecting another man’s child?!?
That man is named Joaquim Valente — and he’s been in Gisele’s life for quite awhile.
A fitness instructor from whom Bundchen has been taking jiu-jitsu lessons, Valente was first referenced by the supermodel in early 2022.
“I feel stronger, more confidence and empowered since I started practicing self-defense,” the 44-year-old captioned an Instagram video at the time of her working out with Valente.
“I feel it’s an important skill for all, but specially for us women.”
Thanking her future lover and his two brothers back then — who together founded the self-defense academy, Valente Brothers — for “being awesome teachers and for making training so much fun,” Gisele added:
“I am looking forward to keep improving. Let’s go!”
There’s been speculation that Gisele was involved with Valente before actually splitting from Brady.
But we cannot confirm or deny such chatter.
Joaquim, meanwhile, is a self-defense and jiu-jitsu instructor who founded the Miami-based self-defense academy with his two siblings after moving to the United States from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil.
He’s 35 years old and has been practicing jiu-jitsu since he was two years old, having received his black belt and Professors’ Diploma from Grandmaster Hélio Gracie in 2007, according to the Valente Brothers website.
Bundchen met Valente through her son, Benjamin Brady, who was enrolled in one of his jiu-jitsu classes.
Shortly after, Gisele explained that the fitness instructor convinced her to join a session as well. And the romance blossomed from there.
“Initially, I wasn’t even considering it for myself,” she told Dust magazine in 2022. “But when I brought Ben to the first class and started talking to Joaquim, I realized that it was much more than self defense.”
Bundchen has mostly kept the details of this relationship private, although she told Vanity Fair last year of the three brothers who founded the aforementioned academy:
“I’m so grateful to know all of them because not only have they helped me and helped my kids, but they have become great friends, and Joaquim especially.”
She also shared why Joaquim is such a great person to have around her children.
“He’s our teacher and, most importantly, he’s a person that I admire and that I trust,” the beauty continued. “It’s so good to have that kind of energy, to have my kids around that type of energy.”
