Sophie Grégoire Trudeau has “learnt to cut ties” and “not cling to relationships” after the break-up of her marriage to the prime minister of Canada.
In an interview with The Telegraph, the former first lady said mental health techniques had helped her to deal with her 2023 separation from Justin Trudeau.
“I’ve trained my brain to deal with uncertainty,” she said. “I learned to cut ties and not cling too much to life, to others, to relationships.”
Ms Trudeau, 49, said she had done “a lot of self-regulation” in addition to her work as a “yoga and meditation teacher”.
She met Mr Trudeau when the pair were just schoolchildren and reconnected in 2002 after their paths crossed at a charity event. Over the 18 years of their marriage, they had three children, Xavier James, 17, Ella-Grace, 15, and Hadrien, 10.
Sophie Trudeau says viewing separation as failure is ‘emotional immaturity’ and leaves a ‘traumatic emotional legacy’ to children
Referring to the break-up, she said: “I have to say we are really lucky to be in a respectful open communication which is key.”
In the podcast, which is tied to her 2024 book Closer Together, Ms Trudeau redefined heartbreak and the notion that “marriage is success, separation is failure, divorce is failure”.
“And the guilt that we carry, that if we don’t keep that identity that we are clinging to, that we fail. But when we feel this way, not only do we show emotional immaturity, but we leave a traumatic emotional legacy to kids who should not have to wear this,” she added
Ms Trudeau now runs online Living Room sessions, which broadcast personal reflections and interviews with mental health luminaries such as Gabor Mate. Each session costs $259 (£145) on Ms Trudeau’s website, and includes tips on healing trauma and maintaining healthy relationships.
Speaking at the Reykjavik Global Forum in Iceland, Ms Trudeau said she never really felt like the first lady.
“I’ve been Sophie all along, and I never believed that I was a first lady. I’ve lived my life as me, and I adapted to different situations,” she said.
“I started as a reporter before I met my husband. And I was a mental health advocate before I met him.”
In Closer Together, a memoir that doubles as a mental health guide, she detailed her battle with an eating disorder during her school years.
She writes that she was fearful of the impact of breaking the mould and speaking out about bulimia so early on in her television career.
“I had come out in Quebec to share my story about my own eating disorders, which was a risk because nobody was really talking about eating disorders,” she said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen the next day.”
‘Many ways to serve’
On being asked by The Telegraph if she would go into politics, Ms Trudeau demurred.
“I believe you can be in service to fellow human beings in many different ways,” she said. “And politics is not the only way.
“As I said I will be serving in my own way. There’s no yes or no. I will continue to serve in the best way that I can. There are many ways to serve.”
Mr Trudeau denied reports that he had extramarital affairs in a 2014 interview following the release of his memoir Common Ground.
Questioned about his denial in an interview the following year, Ms Trudeau said the couple had been through “hardship”.
The Trudeau family has a tradition of being involved in politics, with the current Canadian Prime Minister’s father also holding office between 1968 to 1979 and 1980 to 1984.
But Sophie is determined not to put pressure on her children to follow suit.
Sophie Trudeau wants to ‘celebrate the authentic nature’ of her kids instead of pressuring them to enter politics – Money Sharma/AFP
“I don’t think about that at all,” she said. Ms Trudeau added she does not think about whether their children will “follow in his footsteps”.
“I kind of think the opposite of that. I think as parents we have to celebrate the authentic nature of our kids and try not to put the pressure on them that the world already puts [on them], whether you are children of political figures or not.”
Mr Trudeau’s political career is at a low ebb, with 57 per cent of respondents to a recent poll believing he should quit as Prime Minister.
The rising cost of living, as well as high rent and house prices, have driven dissatisfaction with his Liberal Party government, which now stands at 27 per cent in the polls, below the rival Conservatives on 41 per cent.
