Meet Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Retired TV Host and Mother of Three

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on Wednesday that he and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, will be separating after 18 years of marriage.

"As always, we remain a close family with deep love and respect for each other and for everything we have built and will continue to build," Trudeau said in a statement posted to his Instagram account.

Here's what you need to know about Sophie Grégoire Trudeau.

Grégoire Trudeau is the only daughter of Jean Grégoire and Estelle Blais, per the National Post.

She enrolled in McGill University to study commerce, but switched majors and ultimately graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from the Université de Montréal, per National Post.

According to ET Canada, Grégoire Trudeau also studied classical flute and guitar when she was younger.

Before she started dating Justin Trudeau, she already knew him through a childhood friend — his younger brother Michel, per National Post.

Michel died in an avalanche in 1998 while skiing with friends at Kokanee Glacier Provincial Park in British Columbia, per the Montreal Gazette.

Most notably, Grégoire Trudeau was a Quebec correspondent for television network CTV's entertainment show "eTalk Daily," per a 2005 press release. There, she covered celebrities and their philanthropic work.

Speaking in an October 2011 interview with life coach and childhood friend Erica Diamond, Grégoire Trudeau revealed that she got the "eTalk Daily" role after meeting some CTV reporters at an event.

"I was at a charity function, and the CTV people were there. They asked me some questions. I had a great rapport with one of the reporters. We then had a meeting, and five years later, I'm still there," Grégoire Trudeau told Diamond.

"When we met again, I reminded him that I knew his brother, Michel. There was definitely a physical and emotional connection. We flirted. But I sent him an email the next day, and he never replied," Grégoire Trudeau recalled in her October 2011 interview with Diamond.

As it turned out, Trudeau wasn't ready for a serious relationship then.

"I got the email and I said, 'Nice. Okay. Good.' And I didn't answer it. I didn't delete it, I just decided, 'No, I'm better off not starting anything that I'm not willing to go through with,'" Trudeau told the Canadian magazine Maclean's in June 2005.

The two of them ended up running into each other on the street again sometime later — and this time, Trudeau wanted to give it a shot.

"I said, 'Look, I really want to call you. I want us to get together and go for dinner together.' I felt it was time," he told Mclean's.

The couple ended up getting engaged in October 2004, on what would have been Trudeau's late father's 85th birthday, per Maclean's.

As Grégoire Trudeau entered the church in her wedding dress, she shouted "I'm the luckiest woman in the world," CBC News reported.

The couple wanted to keep their wedding intimate, Trudeau told Maclean's.

"We knew we didn't want to go the route of inviting dignitaries and prime ministers or anything like that," he said. "For me, the guest list was either going to be under 200 or over 1,000—and there was no way it was going to be 1,000."

The couple also opted to have a long dessert table instead of a wedding cake at their reception.

"I find that people never eat it. You take this tacky picture cutting the cake. So I said, 'No! Let's do something different!'" Grégoire Trudeau told Maclean's.

The couple welcomed their first son Xavier in October 2007, followed by Ella-Grace in February 2009, and Hadrian in February 2014, per the US Sun.

Following the news of their separation, the prime minister's office announced that the couple is committed to raising their children together.

"They remain a close family and Sophie and the Prime Minister are focused on raising their kids in a safe, loving and collaborative environment," the office said in a statement, per The Washington Post. "Both parents will be a constant presence in their children's lives and Canadians can expect to often see the family together."

Grégoire Trudeau has been open about her struggles and recovery from bulimia, which started when she was a teen, she revealed in her interview with Diamond.

Now, she wants to raise awareness about eating disorders, especially among the youth.

"If I'm always talking about dieting and how others look, that sends a message. If I accept myself for who I am inside and see the beauty in others, that sends another message," she told Montreal Families magazine in a March 2013 interview.

"This has to be a conscious choice and we must remind ourselves that, as mothers, actions speak louder than words," she added.

Grégoire Trudeau was also an ambassador for WE Charity, formerly known as Free the Children, which was involved in a political scandal in 2020, BBC reported.

WE charity was awarded a federal contract worth 900 million Canadian dollars, or $673 million, to manage a student grant program when it was revealed that the charity had previously paid members of Trudeau's family to appear at events over the years, per BBC.

However, Trudeau was eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, per BBC.

"The meditation and physical practice of yoga are ways to deeply connect with yourself and be in the present. It has changed my life," Grégoire Trudeau told Montreal Families magazine.

"I have met some incredible people through yoga classes and workshops. Because yoga made me feel so peaceful inside, I decided to take my teacher training so I could share it with others," she added.

Correction: August 4, 2023 — An earlier version of this story misstated Grégoire Trudeau as Trudeau’s soon-to-be ex-wife. It is not confirmed that they will divorce.