Jimmy Bartel has opened up about his divorce.
The 41-year-old former footballer split from his wife, model and fashion designer Nadia Bartel, in 2019.
While appearing on the A Life of Greatness with Sarah Grynberg podcast this week, Jimmy said he doesn’t understand why people are so interested in his private life.
“I don’t see what’s so fascinating about myself,” he said, before explaining why he’s never spoken publicly about the divorce before.
“There’s nothing that I can do and say. And other people’s opinions of me are none of my business. And so they’ll form their own narrative, their own thinking or their own thought,” he said.
“The only thing that matters to me is the people that I care about and I just foster those relationships and it can be tough at times. You do want to bite back and you do want to respond… but people don’t care, deep down they don’t.
“The only people who care, are the people that actually care about you. And so that’s all I worried and focused about.”
The retired Geelong player said he will never talk publicly about the end of his marriage.
“I’ve never commented on anything to do about my separation. I never will because I just don’t think it’s needed. And so I just go about my business,” he said.
In 2023, Jimmy welcomed a baby girl into the world with his girlfriend Amelia Shepperd. And last year, in a reel, Nadia opened up about her new relationship with former footballer, Peter Dugmore.
The 40-year-old said that she thought her life had “ended” when she first split from Jimmy.
“You do think you’ll never be able to date again, I know I did feel like that having two small children and not having time for anything else,” she said.
“It was really hard for me as well because I’d been with my ex since I was 22 or 23, so to even think about dating again felt like the most foreign thing to me, and I didn’t even know how I’d handle any of that.”
The Henne founder went on to explain she then received a message from Peter on Instagram.
“I don’t usually respond to Instagram messages, and I don’t know if it was because I was feeling lonely, but I responded,” she said. “I looked at his profile and we had some mutual friends and he looked like a nice guy. He also didn’t have a lot of posts — and I liked that.”
The pair then talked online for about six months.
“I really enjoyed the chats, but I never thought I’d ever see this person — it was just nice to chat,” Nadia explained. “I was in a good place with my mental health and I didn’t want to put myself in a position where I could be hurt again.”
When they finally ran into each other in person, Nadia said she felt an “instant spark”.
“That feeling of connecting with someone and an energy, I feel like it’s a real thing,” she said. “I feel like if I didn’t bump into him that day (in 2022), I don’t know if I ever would have had the guts to meet him in person so I feel like some things just happen for a reason and things are just meant to be.”
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