I went through ‘hell’, says ex-Mrs Tiger Woods

he now ex-wife of Tiger Woods has broken the silence she maintained through the ordeal of dealing with the torrid sex scandal that engulfed their marriage, saying she has been through "hell."

Elin Nordegren, a Swedish-born former model and nanny, spoke to People magazine after she and Woods issued a statement confirming the divorce two days ago, which had been widely anticipated for months after his public confession of infidelity.

"I've been through hell," she told the magazine. "It's hard to think you have this life and then all of a sudden — was it a lie? You're struggling because it wasn't real."

Nordegren, 30, who is studying psychology, said she never suspected the affairs that Woods, reputed to be the world's wealthiest sports star, admitted to and publicly apologized for in February.

"I'm so embarrassed that I never suspected — not a one. For the last three and a half years, when all this was going on, I was home a lot more with pregnancies, then the children and my school," she said.

Woods, who has won 14 major championships, returned to the game in April after losing up to $35 million in sponsorship revenue as his private life unraveled over allegations that surfaced in late November and December about affairs between him and several women.

The revelations surfaced after a middle-of-the-night car accident at the couple's luxury Florida home where Woods crashed into a tree and a fire hydrant. Nordegren told police she smashed the car's back window with a golf club to get him out.

Since then Nordegren told People she has experienced various emotions in the aftermath of public scandal surrounding his affairs. Woods and Nordegren have a 3-year-old daughter and a 1-year-old son.

"I have been through the stages of disbelief and shock, to anger and ultimately grief over the loss of the family I so badly wanted for my children," she said.

Of the settlement she received, which neither she nor Woods have disclosed but People estimated to be worth US$100 million (RM314 million), she said it wasn't worth splitting up her family.

"Money can't buy me happiness," she said. "Or put my family back together."