On August 2, 2023, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau announced they had separated. Around two years earlier Trudeau spoke about some details of the early days with Grégoire on a Quebec talk show.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared on the program La semaine des 4 Julie on Sept. 16, 2021 and opened up ever so slightly about his early relationship with Grégoire.

On the program, host Julie Snyder pressed Trudeau about his dating life in his youth. Trudeau admitted he wasn't "quick" with girls, including Grégoire. "We took our time to make sure [she] was the right one and I was the right one," he said of the relationship.

But their slow start seems to have been about more than compatibility. "We were both in a bit of a complicated phase in our personal lives," Trudeau said, appearing to choose his words carefully.

He went on: "When I met this girl I knew that this was something serious with enormous potential. I didn't want to go too fast. I didn't want to miss my chance."

"I had a few things in my life to sort out before I could focus just on her," he added, grinning and stumbling slightly.

"Like a contestant on Occupation Double, you had to be single?" Snyder asked, referring to the hit Quebec reality competition in which eccentric castmembers search for love.

"You could say that," the prime minister answered, seeming to gesture in the affirmative.

Justin Trudeau and Sophie Grégoire Trudeau celebrated their 16th marriage anniversary on May 28. 2021.