A month after Michelle Bridges was caught drink driving with her young son in the car, she’s talked about ‘the toughest time of her life’ on Instagram, thanking her friends and fans for their support.
“The last month has been the toughest time of my life. What I’d like to say is thank you – to my loved ones, my friends, my team, and to all who have reached out to me,” she wrote.
“I have received so many messages of kindness from both strangers and people I know. The biggest thank you to you all. I know the remorse and guilt won’t go away, but I’m determined to keep moving forward, working hard and being thankful for all the good in my life.”
Fellow celebrities have also shared their words of support.
“Sending you so much love,” wrote Sophie Cachia.
“I love you Mish. Come stay with me, we can eat burgers and b*tch about arseholes and tell each other how beautiful we are. We can call it Cons 12-week challenge,” shared Constance Hall.
Shaynna Blaze, Sophie Monk, Jackie Gillies and celebrity chef, Matt Moran, also commented.
The 49-year-old The Biggest Loser star and personal trainer was pulled over in a Range Rover SUV on Australia Day for a roadside breath test on Sydney’s New South Head Road in Bellevue Hil.
Bridges returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.086.
At the time she also confirmed her break up with The Biggest Loser co-star Steve ‘Commando’ Willis, 43.
Bridges expressed her “deep regret” in a statement to The Daily Telegraph, following the incident.
“This behaviour is inexcusable, and I am absolutely devastated and embarrassed to find myself in this position,” she said.
“It has been a very difficult time for me the last few weeks dealing with the break-up of my long-term relationship. This is by no means an excuse for my behaviour but I feel the emotional turmoil I have been going through has impacted my decision making. I am extremely sorry for my actions.”
Bridges and Willis met on the set of their weight loss reality show in 2007, although they were both in relationships with other people at the time.
They began dating in 2013 after they both went through breakups.
“For a long time, making season after season of The Biggest Loser, we were just friends. It was more of a communication connection that drew us together in that sense rather than anything physical,” Willis told a 2016 Australian Story episode documenting Bridges’ rise to fame.
“The thing about Michelle that got my attention was her willingness to listen and you could sit for minutes, hours and just talk and she would be like a sounding board.”
Following the breakdowns of their respective marriages, Bridges said the pair “came together at a time when we were both kind of raw and thinking ‘Wow, what is happening with our relationships?'”
In July 2015, the couple revealed they were expecting a baby and in December that year, Bridges gave birth to their son Axel, now four.
Axel was Bridges’ first child, and Willis’ fourth. He has three children – two daughters, Brianna, 20, and Ella, 12, and a son, Jack, 8 – from his previous marriage.
In 2019, he told The Father Hood about the challenges of a blended family.
“It requires teamwork and teamwork needs cohesion, connection, bonds to form. This can take years. What I’ve learned from my own personal experience is that it requires compromise. We need to provide each other more breathing space in times of need rather than just projecting our thoughts and opinions into a situation. Providing that space can enable us to find calm, practical solutions that benefit everyone,” he said.
“I think there’s been a big shift in the status quo around just putting up with a relationship for the children’s sake. It’s more socially acceptable nowadays if you can’t work things out to go your separate ways but to still be unified as parents. We understand that. But once you move beyond that understanding and you’ve got to figure out how that actually works in the practical sense. Well, I think we’re all fumbling in the dark a lot more than we’d probably like to admit.”
In September 2019, Bridges told Kidspot she struggled with juggling motherhood and taking time for herself.
Besides her role on The Biggest Loser from 2007-2015, Bridges runs a fitness empire and is the author of numerous books.
"I was always very career-focused, and now that I've got this beautiful little boy in my life, and three other amazing children, I realise now that it is critically important - for my own sanity, but also for them - to see that as a role model, that I look after myself, I give myself self-care, that I put myself as much a priority as I put them... They still get everything that they need, but they also see that I will make sure that I get what I need - and even if that's just 30 minutes."
In September 2019, Bridges told Now To Love how she and Willis dealt with stressful moments.
"We pick up on each other's vibes on what's happening at any given moment so sometimes he'll just go and do a workout or I'll be like, 'You know what, go do your thing,'" she said.
"I think in any relationship you have to be able to read each other and give the other person that space that they might need and if you're the one kind of giving them the space, you kind of know that eventually one way or another that it'll come back to you. So it's that swings and roundabouts scenario."
Bridges and Willis have faced break up rumours many times throughout their relationship. In August 2018, Willis publicly called out New Idea magazine for a story that contained the headline: "Exclusive: Michelle's love hell Commando walks out".
Willis shared a photo of the magazine cover and accused the title of intentionally bullying his family.
"After much reflection I have decided to post in response to an article that is mean, hurtful, upsetting, mischievous and destructive," he wrote.
"It saddens and hurts me greatly that New Idea Magazine and those who are behind such an article knowingly and intentionally go out of their way to tear down, bully and create disharmony within my family and loved ones."
Top Comments
The separation is possibly out of MB's control, the decision to drink while facing grevious problems isn't reprehensible, but the next one, to jump in the car with your kid while drunk is you making Bridges' tough month tougher. That bit is on MB entirely and doesn't deserve warm, supportive Instagram commentary.
It's good that the remorse won't go away - it will hopefully provide her with incentive to not repeat the same behaviour.