“I’m more than content”: Michelle Bridges is thriving after her split from Commando

Michelle Bridges has just wrapped up a morning workout session when Woman’s Day catches her for a chat.

“I actually had a bit of luxury this morning and had a chance to train!” says the 50-year-old fitness guru, who admits workouts are a rarity these days now she’s a mum to five-year-old Axel.

And the personal trainer insists it’s just as hard for her to get motivated on those chilly winter mornings as it is for everyone else.

“I know a lot of people think that I must get up and fist pump the air and say, ‘Yes, let’s go and train!’ but I can tell you quite honestly that is not the case,” she laughs. “Just like everybody else, I have to just get there and get it done!”

While Michelle says exercise is “100 per cent” her main source of self-care, the star’s wellness has also been given a boost with her move from Sydney to her sprawling property in the NSW Southern Highlands last year.

“It’s always lovely to get a breath of fresh air and step back from city life,” she says.

“I love Sydney – I’ll always be working in the city, but it is nice to be outside of that bubble and raise my son in the country. It’s pretty much all he’s known. He loves it.”

And Michelle tells Woman’s Day she’s content with the single life since splitting from Axel’s father, Steve “Commando” Willis, in January 2020 after almost seven years together.

“He is the only man in my life,” she says of Axel.

“Without question. I love him to pieces. I’m more than content.”

Fresh from her stint on Celebrity Apprentice Australia – where she raised $20,000 for Women’s Community Shelters – Michelle is now partnering with Always Discreet and Share the Dignity to raise awareness about a large group of Australian women over 50 who are struggling to afford the sanitary protection they need.

“They can’t even afford to take care of themselves with regards to bladder leakage problems,” says Michelle.

“Which, by the way, one in three women suffer from. It just breaks my heart to think that women could have their confidence taken from them.”