NEED TO KNOW
Sophie Grégoire is opening up about her separation from her estranged husband Justin Trudeau as he and Katy Perry go public with their romance.
During an appearance on the Arlene Is Alone podcast on Nov. 12, Grégoire, 50, said that it’s “normal” to be affected by an ex dating someone new.
When asked by host Arlene Dickinson how she has dealt with the publicity of Justin, 53, and Perry’s romance, Grégoire responded, “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.”
“I’m very aware that a lot of public stuff out there can be triggers. Right, we’re humans,” she continued. “What I do with it is my decision. The woman I want to become through this is my decision.”
“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,” she added.
Grégoire’s comments come after her estranged husband and Perry, 41, made their first public appearance as a couple on Oct. 25, while in Paris for the pop star’s birthday. The former Canadian Prime Minister and Perry were first linked after being spotted on a dog walk together in July.
Grégoire, who announced her separation from Justin after 18 years of marriage in 2023, said that she has to “let myself feel” amid the news of her ex-husband’s new romance.
“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,” she told podcast host Dickinson.
Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty
While she’s allowed herself to be emotional, Grégoire said that she doesn’t want to be in “reactive mode.”
“You can stay in that reactive mode, but you’ll suffer the consequences,” she commented. “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?’
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
When it comes to her and Justin’s three children, Xavier, 18, Ella-Grace, 16, and Hadrien, 11, Grégoire added that she and Justin have maintained a solid foundation for them since their split.
“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.”
