All About Justin Trudeau’s Estranged Wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau

Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau are currently separated — but the former Canadian prime minister may have a new romance brewing.

On July 28, Trudeau and Katy Perry were seen having dinner together in Montréal. The pair enjoyed cocktails and several dishes, per TMZ. The news of Trudeau and Perry’s outing came just one month after the “Fireworks” singer ended her engagement to Orlando Bloom.

PEOPLE has attempted to reach Trudeau for comment, while a rep for Perry has not commented.

Trudeau and Grégoire, who wed in 2005 and share three children, announced their separation after 18 years of marriage on Aug. 2, 2023.

“It hurts deeply. You know, marriage is ‘success.’ Separation and divorce is ‘failure,’ ” Grégoire said on the Next Question With Katie Couric podcast in May 2024.

Grégoire was by Trudeau’s side when he was elected in 2015 and again in 2021. He ultimately announced his resignation as the leader of Canada’s Liberal Party in January 2025.

From her career in entertainment to raising three kids, here’s everything to know about Justin Trudeau’s wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau.

They met when they were very young but didn’t date right away

Gregoire and Trudeau met when they were kids, as she was a classmate of his youngest brother, Michel. Sophie recalled to Maclean’s in June 2005 that she would play at the Trudeaus’ home as a child and always had a crush on the future politician.

“They had a really cool pool with a trapeze and ropes and we could play Tarzan for hours,” she said. “We would hide in the closets to have our first kiss.”

The pair reconnected as adults when they co-hosted a fundraising event in 2003, but Trudeau wasn’t ready for anything serious at the time. When Grégoire emailed him after the meeting, he didn’t respond.

“I got the email, and I said, ‘Nice. Okay. Good.’ And I didn’t answer it,” he recalled. “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.’ ”

They had their first date at a karaoke bar

When she didn’t receive a response, Grégoire dismissed the notion of dating Trudeau. But a few weeks later, they ran into each other by chance, and Trudeau realized he wanted to be with her. Grégoire told Maclean’s that she played hard to get: She wouldn’t give him her number and told him to email her. 

Trudeau emailed her that night, and the pair went on their first date to an Afghan restaurant, then to a karaoke bar, where they sang Elton John and Beatles songs.

While the couple were walking down the street after karaoke, Trudeau walked headfirst into a pole. “I thought, ‘Oh my God. You nerd!’ ” Grégoire said. “And he kept explaining for 30 minutes, ‘Sophie, Sophie, I never do this.’ ”

On Oct. 18, 2004, what would have been the late Pierre Trudeau’s 85th birthday, the couple got engaged after visiting the Trudeau family tomb in Saint-Rémi-de-Napierville, Quebec, and getting spa treatments at a luxury hotel.

“He really went out of his way,” Grégoire said of the proposal. “There were candles and rose petals everywhere. I felt like I was a princess.”

They got married in 2005

Trudeau and Grégoire married on May 28, 2005, in a traditional Catholic ceremony at Sainte-Madeleine d’Outremont Church in Montreal. CBC News reported that as the bride entered the church, she told the crowd outside, “I’m the luckiest woman in the world.”

Their reception featured a live band, a DJ and a meal spread that included Alberta beef, local cheeses, organic vegetables and assorted desserts — and they kept the guest list limited to their families and friends. Trudeau told Maclean’s: “We knew we didn’t want to go the route of inviting dignitaries and prime ministers or anything like that. 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 party was simple and elegant, but Grégoire had one request that made it stand out from most other weddings: She didn’t want a wedding cake.

“I find that people never eat it,” she said. “You take this tacky picture cutting the cake. So I said, ‘No! Let’s do something different!’ ” The couple opted for a myriad of desserts, teas and coffee instead.

They have three children

Trudeau and Grégoire share three children: sons Xavier James and Hadrien Grégoire and daughter Ella-Grace.

Their eldest child, Xavier, was born on Oct. 18, 2007. They welcomed their second child Ella-Grace on Feb. 5, 2009. Five years later, their youngest child Hadrien arrived on born Feb. 28, 2014.

In 2005, Trudeau told Maclean’s that he wanted “at least three” children — though at the time, he and Grégoire didn’t see eye to eye.

“Sophie was an only child so she says one is just fine, two is good, too, but three, you’re starting to push it a little bit,” he said. “But I’m very confident that once we get into it, I’ll be able to convince her that three is fine.”

She raises awareness for eating disorders and anxiety

Grégoire has been open about her recovery from the eating disorder bulimia nervosa, which she said began in her teens.

“Addictions are biochemical imbalances of the brain, and binging and purging is a sign of a greater emotional wound. Eating was my only way of controlling my life, or so I thought,” she told Erica Diamond in 2011. “When you are addicted or suffering from a mental illness, you think you’re in complete control. But the opposite is true. You are, in fact, completely out of control.”

She is also a national volunteer for the Canadian Mental Health Association, and in May 2023, she partnered with the organization to encourage others to share their own struggles with mental health “to build more compassion and more empathy for one another.”

She’s a writer and correspondent

In addition to her extensive charity work, Grégoire has had an eclectic and illustrious career of her own.

Fluent in French, English and Spanish, she began her career in advertising, working her way up from receptionist to account manager at a marketing firm, but felt herself drawn to other endeavors. “I decided to go to radio and TV school. I had always felt my communication skills were my best asset,” she told author Erica Diamond in 2011. “The moment I stepped foot into school, I knew I was home. I felt most like myself. I had found my calling.” 

Her next job was writing news ticker items, which she described as “the worst job ever.” When her company, Canadian news channel LCN, had an opening for an entertainment reporter, she went for it. During this period, she also worked as a personal shopper for the luxury store Holt Renfrew.

In 2005, Grégoire attended a charity event where she met several CTV Television Network staffers, leading her to become a correspondent for CTV’s eTalk, an entertainment news show.

Grégoire is also an author. She published Closer Together: Knowing Ourselves, Loving Each Other in 2024.

She and Trudeau announced their separation in August 2023

In August 2023, the now-former Canadian Prime Minister shared the news of their separation in a since-deleted post on Instagram.

“Hi everyone, Sophie and I would like to share the fact that after many meaningful and difficult conversations, we have made the decision to separate,” Trudeau wrote. “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.”

The Canadian Prime Minister’s office confirmed the news to PEOPLE, saying in a statement that Trudeau and Sophie have “signed a legal separation agreement.”

“They have worked to ensure that all legal and ethical steps with regards to their decision to separate have been taken, and will continue to do so moving forward,” the statement said.