For the first time since Tiger Wood’s extramarital affairs have been exposed, his ex-wife Elin Nordegren has finally spoken up. The Swedish beauty has opted to keep her silence even during the most tumultuous times of her then-husband’s scandals, but has now opened up about their relationship.

In an exclusive interview with People magazine, Nordegren, 34, revealed that she has forgiven the champion golfer, but she hasn’t forgotten how his indiscretions caused their marriage to split.

“I felt safe with him,” she said. “The word betrayal isn’t strong enough.”

Woods was revealed to have at least a dozen mistresses in late 2009 after his single-vehicle accident near their home in Florida. A report claimed that Nordegren found out about his affairs, and had chased him with a golf club, forcing Woods to flee from their home. This has been denied by Woods.

Shortly after that, Woods admitted to the media that he has cheated on Nordegren with several women. They finalised their divorce in August 2010.

Even when Woods and their marriage became a constant tabloid fodder during those months, Nordegren refused to speak publicly, choosing to value her privacy, no matter how much people tried to take it away from her.

But now, Nordegren appears to be ready to speak up.

“I have moved on and I am in a good place. My relationship with Tiger is centred around our children and we are doing really good – we really are – and I am so happy that is the case. He is a great father,” she said.

Nordegren and Woods share custody of six-year-old daughter Sam and five-year-old son Charlie.

“In the beginning, you tamp down the animosity for the kids’ sake,” she continued. “I’m not going to deny that I went through the wringer. But I don’t think I doubted we’d end up here. That was always my dream, that the kids can have two loving parents that show respect for each other. And I feel that’s what they have.”

She’s also happy for Woods, who is now dating Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn.

“In general, in any kind of stepparent relationship, I’m happy that there’s somebody else loving my children.”

Nordegren recently graduated from Rollins College in Florida with high honours. As an outstanding graduating senior with a GPA of 3.96, she was chosen to deliver a speech before her fellow graduates on May 9.

In her speech, she acknowledged that she was called “a woman with no words” in the media for her refusal to address Woods’ scandal.

And while she did not name Woods in her speech, she has referenced her doomed marriage several times.

“When I entered my student advisor office in the fall of 2005, I was 25 years old, I had just recently moved to America, I was married without children,” she said.

“Today, nine years later, I’m a proud American and I have two beautiful children... but I’m no longer married.”

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