Sophie Grégoire Trudeau didn’t see Justin Trudeau as a PM: ‘I knew it was his job, but come on’

Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, left, and her former partner, former prime minister Justin Trudeau. Photo by Photo by LARS HAGBERG/AFP via Getty Images

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During her time as Canada’s unofficial first lady, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau said she never saw her “former partner as a prime minister.”

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“I knew it was his job, but come on,” the soon-to-be 52-year-old told Talia Bronfman and Jessica Green, hosts of Canadian podcast Built For This, in a recent episode.

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“Like snap out of every role you’re in, because if you believe it for half a second you’re doomed, and including celebrity.”

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Grégoire Trudeau and former prime minister Justin Trudeau have been separated since August 2023 after 18 years of marriage and three children together — Xavier, 18, Ella-Grace, 17, and Hadrien, 12. Trudeau, 54, has been in a heavily publicized romantic relationship with American pop star Katy Perry since the summer of 2025.

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Grégoire Trudeau recounted keeping herself and her ex grounded when ordinary people they would encounter in their official capacity started “losing it.”

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“Right away I’m like, ‘No, no, no, no, no. This is not going to happen. Look into my eyes right now. We belong to each other. We’re doing this for each other. So, let’s put all the titles and the accolades and the lighting aside and let’s just come back to like we’re walking each other home,’” she explained.

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Those were the only mentions of Trudeau during their nearly hour-long conversation posted on Oct. 10, World Mental Health Day, and focused largely on Grégoire Trudeau’s debut self-help book, Closer Together: Knowing Ourselves, Loving Each Other. Grégoire Trudeau is a long-time mental health advocate and the first national volunteer for the Canadian Mental Health Association.

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But she did discuss the realities of political life, which is both an “incredible opportunity” and often quite trying.

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“People still think politics is like glamorous and it’s champagne and I’m like ‘Oh my goodness, if people only knew the sacrifices that you make in your life. Like your time is not yours anymore. Your family is almost not yours anymore,” she explained.

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“So to be honest, if people would ask me today, would you tell anybody to go into public service? I would say if you don’t have little kids, yes.”

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau departs Ottawa with his wife Sophie Gregoire Trudeau, left to right, and children Xavier, Ella-Grace and Hadrien on Friday, Feb. 16, 2018., en route to India. Photo by Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press

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To keep herself grounded, she said she avoided most articles written about her because “it was already a situation in which the physical and psychological safety” of her loved ones “was at play every single day.

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“I can’t even tell you as a mother what that does to your nervous system, “ she said. “So my main work was to keep that calm so that when they came back … they could feed from somebody who was grounded.”

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The podcast was recorded in Montreal, where Grégoire Trudeau returned to live this year in a rented home about four streets from where she spent most of her youth. She has mixed feelings about returning to her hometown now, most of it “melancholy.” Trudeau, who also grew up in the Quebec city, bought a $4.26 million home in Outremont earlier this year.