Sophie Grégoire is opening up about her separation from Justin Trudeau while adjusting to life in the spotlight as he begins a new relationship with Katy Perry.
During an appearance on the Arlene Is Alone podcast on Nov. 12, Grégoire, 50, acknowledged that it’s completely “normal” to feel something when an ex moves on publicly.
When host Arlene Dickinson asked how she has handled seeing Justin, 53, and Perry’s relationship unfold in the media, Grégoire replied, “We’re human beings and stuff affects us. Normal. How you react to stuff is your decision. So I choose to try to listen to the music instead of the noise.”
She added that public attention can easily stir up emotions: “I’m very aware that a lot of public stuff out there can be triggers. Right, we’re humans. What I do with it is my decision. The woman I want to become through this is my decision.”
Grégoire emphasized that she still experiences a full range of feelings. “Does that mean I don’t have emotions? That I don’t cry, scream, laugh? No. Especially that I’m a super tender heart, right? But it’s my decision after that, between the emotion and the reaction.”
Her comments come after Justin and Perry, 41, appeared together publicly as a couple on Oct. 25 while in Paris celebrating the pop star’s birthday. The former Canadian Prime Minister and Perry were first linked in July after being spotted together on a dog walk.
Grégoire, who announced her separation from Justin in 2023 after 18 years of marriage, shared that she allows herself to feel whatever comes up as her former husband moves forward: “I’ll let myself be disappointed by someone, I’ll let myself be angry, be sad. And I know for a fact how important it is, as a mental health advocate, to feel those emotions.”
Still, she is actively working not to live in a reactive state.
“You can stay in that reactive mode, but you’ll suffer the consequences,” she noted. “I’m also learning at 50 that people will meet life as where they are inside of them … it’s your choice to see that and be like, ‘How am I going to let that affect my happiness?’ ”
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When discussing their children — Xavier, 18, Ella-Grace, 16, and Hadrien, 11 — Grégoire said she and Justin are committed to keeping their family strong despite going separate ways.
“We have separate lives, but we have one family life,” she said. “You need a common, conscious decision that our family is our greatest creation and we’re going to feed it together, no matter if we’re on different life paths.”
