Sophie Grégoire Trudeau on fame and dark moments: ‘One day you’re speaking on a stage. The next you’re sitting alone by the water’

Sophie Gregoire Trudeau and Margaret Trudeau, mother of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, attend an Ottawa Blackjacks basketball game in Ottawa May 12, 2026. Their son / grandson Xavier (Xav) Trudeau performed during halftime. Photo by Blair Gable /Postmedia

Article content

In a video posted on social media recently, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau tells her followers she wants to share something “quite personal.”

Article content

“One day you’re speaking on a stage. The next you’re sitting alone on a bench by the water. Both are sacred,” the 51-year-old wrote in the caption of the video shared on Facebook.

Article content

Article content

After finishing her breakfast by the water at Toronto’s Harbourfront, she says her life goes from “yesterday giving a speech in Toronto in front of 700 people,” and having people wait in line for her to sign her book, to “then this morning here I am, and you know, nobody’s standing in line, and nobody knows who I am.”

Article content

Article content

Article content

Grégoire Trudeau says she has realized that she can’t get attached to any circumstance in life, and acknowledges with gratitude the privilege she has had.

Article content

Article content

“As first non-official first lady, I could have believed, well, you know, I’m a first lady,” says Grégoire Trudeau, who was married to former prime minister Justin Trudeau before they separated in 2023 after 18 years of marriage, and still uses his last name.

Article content

“Or today, sometimes when people want to take pictures or come to me to give me love and support, I take it in from a place of such realness, where I don’t let it kind of get to my head, I let it get to my heart.”

Article content

The title of First Lady does not officially exist in Canada. Although Grégoire Trudeau leaned into the role of the unofficial First Lady, others like Laureen Harper didn’t like the label.

Article content

She says when it comes to praise, it’s how we take it in. “And for me, it’s a confirmation of my life mission of how I get to give back to the world with the privilege that I’ve had, even though it’s had dark moments and obstacles.” She adds that the past years have not been easy, “and sometimes I wake up and I’m like, okay, like, what’s next, I can’t see through this darkness, but right now I’m looking at the light.”

Article content

Article content

Sophie Grégoire’s personal admission comes a few days after Trudeau and his girlfriend Katy Perry attended the premiere of the concert documentary Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival on Monday. It was the first time the couple were spotted at a red carpet event together.

Article content

Justin Trudeau and Katy Perry attend “Katy Perry: The Lifetimes Tour” Premiere during the 2026 Tribeca Festival at BMCC Theatre on June 8, 2026 in New York City. Photo by Theo Wargo /Getty Images for Tribeca Festival

Article content

Article content

“I saw the show three times, but I wasn’t paying attention to anything but Katy, so I’m looking forward to seeing the show now for the first time,” Trudeau, 54, who appeared smitten by his pop star girlfriend, told Entertainment Tonight during the Monday premiere.

Article content

Perry, meanwhile, called him “the love of her life.” During the Q&A round post-screening, the 41-year-old singer reflected on her Lifetimes Tour in 2025.

Article content

“I would say now, at the end of 91 shows, I feel like a more grounded person in so many aspects of my life. I am very in love,” US Weekly reports Perry as saying. “Actually, that show was after I met the love of my life, and so I felt very anchored by that,” Perry said of her Paris tour dates in November 2025. “I’m a little bit like a rainbow kite — I fly super high. Sometimes I need to be anchored, so to have that anchor finally makes me feel really whole now.”