Wood's ex-wife breaks silence

NEW YORK - THE now ex-wife of Tiger Woods has broken the silence she maintained through the torrid xxx scandal that engulfed their marriage, saying she has been through 'hell.'

Elin Nordegren spoke to People magazine in an interview published on Wednesday, two days after she and Woods issued a statement confirming their divorce, which had been widely anticipated for months after his public confession of infidelity.

'I've been through hell,' the Swedish-born former nanny told the publication. '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. But I survived, it was hard, but it didn't kill me.'

Nordegren, 30, who met Woods at the age of 21 while minding children for a Swedish golfer but is now 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.

When asked about his ex-wife's comments, Woods told reporters on Wednesday after playing a golf event in New Jersey that he 'wished her the best in everything.' 'It's a sad time in our lives. And we're looking forward to - in our lives and how we can help our kids the best way we possibly can. And that's the most important thing,' he said. -- REUTERS