Ethermac Exchange-Gisele Bündchen opens up about modeling and divorce

Gisele Bündchen opens up about her life as a supermodel,Ethermac Exchange her life today away from the runway, and her headline-making divorce from football great Tom Brady, in a revealing interview with correspondent Lee Cowan for "CBS News Sunday Morning," to be broadcast Sunday, September 24 on CBS and streamed on Paramount+

"I'm in a different place in my life. I'm able to choose more of what I want," Bündchen told Cowan at her part-time home in Costa Rica. "I think before I was more surviving, and now I'm living, which is different."

Bündchen, 43, is one of the most famous models in the world. However, she told Cowan she's pulling back from the runway to show her true self.  What the world saw of her, she said, was a persona she created to deal with the industry, though the work stress eventually led to panic attacks.

"You  know, I was in tunnels. I couldn't breathe. And then I started being in studios, and I felt, like, suffocated," she said. "I lived on the 9th floor, and I had to go up the stairs because I was afraid I would be stuck on the elevator, and I'd be hyperventilating. …  You know when you can't breathe even when the windows are open, you feel like, I don't want to live like this, you know what I mean?"

"Did you really think about jumping?" Cowan asked.

"Yeah. For, like, a second," Bündchen replied.

Looking back, Bundchen said she wouldn't change anything about her life, including her marriage to Brady. Together for 16 years, their divorce was as public as their careers.

"I mean, it's not what I dreamed of and what I hoped for," she said. "My parents have been married for 50 years, and I really wanted that to happen. But I think you have to accept, you know, sometimes that the way you are in your 20s, it's sometimes you grow together, sometimes you grow apart. I mean, he's the father of my kids, you know? So, I always wish him the best, and I'm so grateful that he gave me wonderful children."

In the wide-ranging interview, Bündchen also talked with Cowan about her childhood, her family, living away from the spotlight, and how turning to a healthier lifestyle saved her life. She also talks about her new role as supplement company Gaia Herbs' wellness ambassador.

As a model, Bündchen considered herself a silent actress. Now, she wants people to see her for who she really is.

"I just think now I'm allowing myself to come out as Gisele versus as 'her,'" she said. "I don't have to play a character. I can be me. And that's liberating."

Watch a preview clip above. 

The Emmy Award-winning "Sunday Morning" is broadcast Sundays on CBS beginning at 9 a.m. ET. "Sunday Morning" also streams on the CBS News app [beginning at 12 p.m. ET] and on Paramount+, and is available on cbs.com and cbsnews.com.

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For more info:

• Follow Gisele Bundchen on Instagram
• Gaia Herbs Farm, Brevard, N.C.

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• Gisele Bündchen