CULTURE

Gisele Bündchen Will Not Retire No Matter How Many Times She’s Asked to Do So

"I’ll retire only the day I die."


Rei Kawakubo/Comme des Garcons: Art Of The In-Between" Costume Institute Gala - Outside Arrivals
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At what age should one retire? According to Gisele Bündchen there is none. The memoir author and lingerie designer, who up until last year held the title of the world’s highest paid model, will not stop working until life stops. So you should probably stop asking her about retirement.

When Ellen DeGeneres did just that on The Ellen Show, the model replied, “I think I am the farthest I have ever been from retiring. I’ve never worked so hard in my life, actually.”

She then offered the date of her last work day: “I think I’ll retire only the day I die,” she said. “Because I love working, I love creating, I think that’s why we’re here to keep creating and expanding and learning.”

While Bündchen isn’t a fan of retirement for herself, she has been pushing for it for another person: her husband, the famed New England Patriots quarterback, Tom Brady. Apparently, Bündchen has been trying to convince him to give up football for a much chiller life at home with his three kids. (The pair share six-year-old Vivian Lake Brady and nine-year-old Benjamin Brady, while he has 11-year-old John Brady from his former relationship with actress and model Bridget Moynahan.)

“I think you should talk with him about that,” told DeGeneres after she asked Bündchen about the possibility of Brady retiring. “I haven’t been very successful. I want him to do whatever makes him happy, but maybe if you have a conversation with him.”

For Bündchen, Brady’s job is a source of concern because of how dangerous it is. But she recognizes that Brady is happy to have it. “I definitely wouldn’t want to have his job,” she said, adding, “it’s definitely something that you get concerned [about]. He loves it so much, and you got to let him do what he loves.”

As for Brady, he’s apparently much more open to the idea of retirement than his wife of 14 years. Back in June, he told Oprah Winfrey that he thinks “about it [retirement] more now than I used to.” “I think I’m seeing that there’s definitely an end coming sooner rather than later,” he said. When he does retire, perhaps he can find another job as his wife’s assistant. With all of the work that she’s plans on doing, she could use the extra hand.