When Elin Nordegren married Tiger Woods, most people assumed she had an easy life ahead of her. Seriously: marrying someone who is rich and famous? For more friends than we can count, that’s been their romantic goal for years. In reality, though, Nordegren didn’t have things nearly as easy as everyone imagined.
A big part of that, of course, is the highly messy, highly public divorce from Woods after he cheated on her. However, what most people don’t know is that she had a pretty traumatic life both before and after marriage to this famous golfer.
Don’t believe it? Keep reading to learn the saddest secrets of Elin Nordegren, Tiger Wood’s ex-wife!
Elin Nordegren’s nude photo scandal
For many women, there’s nothing worse than the prospect of a nude photo scandal. After all, it’s a real betrayal when someone you sent nude pictures to ends up sharing them with others. However, Elin Nordegren experienced the worst possible variation of this: a nude photo scandal that, incredibly, had no actual nudity!
In 2006, the Irish media outlet The Dubliner tried to take Nordegren down a few pegs in the ickiest possible way. According to ESPN, the outlet claimed that Tiger Wood’s wife “can be found in a variety of sweaty poses on porn sites across the web.” Woods immediately criticized the outlet, and Nordegren hired a legal team to sue The Dubliner for libel. Later, the outlet apologized, which is only fitting because there has never been any nude photos of Nordegren circling around!
Her parents’ nasty divorce
You might think that divorce from Tiger Woods is the worst thing that could have ever happened to Elin Nordegren. While that divorce was obviously devastating (more on that soon), it turns out that she had a preview of how bad it would be earlier in life. When Nordegren was only seven years old, her parents divorced, an event that traumatized her for years afterward.
Still, there was one cold comfort in all of this. Nordegren later told People that her mother was a source of inspirational strength: “My mom showed me that it is possible to be on your own, be a mother and still pursue your career,” she said. Later, she channeled what she learned from her mother to be a better mom to her kids after divorcing Tiger Woods. “I am now going to do my very best to show them that being alone and happy is better than being in a relationship where there is no trust. I want to show my kids what my parents showed me as a child,” she said.
Her famous husband famously cheated on her
Obviously, Elin Nordegren had to deal with some major trauma before she even met Tiger Woods, much less married him. Still, like countless women before her, she hoped that marrying Mr. Right would help her process this trauma and finally move on. Unfortunately, it was only a matter of time before he turned the marriage into one of the most traumatizing events she ever faced.
As you almost certainly know, Tiger Woods cheated on Elin Nordegren with multiple women. And the fact that you know is why this was so traumatizing: all of this began when the National Enquirer ran a story claiming that the famous golfer was cheating on his wife with Rachel Uchitel. This led to Nordegren looking through Woods’ phone to find evidence of the other women he was having an affair with and Woods later held a press conference apologizing to his family. Just like that, their private family affair’s dirty laundry was being aired out in public.
This highly public affair business was followed by a highly public divorce. Leading up to this, there were strong rumors that she actually attacked Woods with a golf club. They both denied this, but all of the guilt, shame, and humiliation of this caused the power couple to divorce in 2010.
Elin Nordegren’s ex died in a helicopter crash
If you are married long enough, that person becomes a huge part of your life. Divorce, then, is like losing yourself…losing a major part of yourself as surely as if you had amputated a limb. Few want to risk that pain again, which is why many people assumed that Elin Nordegren would never move on after Tiger Woods. She did finally open her heart, though…and just got traumatized all over again.
In 2013, Nordegren ended up dating her neighbor, Chris Cline. Things quickly got serious but then fizzled out, with the couple breaking up only a year after they got together. That might have been bad enough, but Cline later ended up dying in a horrific helicopter crash. Sure, Nordegren had moved on by this point, but learning that an old boyfriend died is just one of many traumas that will follow her for the rest of her life.