Christie Brinkley: Four marriages and a new outlook on life after divorces
30 april 2025 в 01:13
Christie Brinkley has been married several times over the years — four times, to be exact — and she opened up about her past love life in her 2025 memoir titled «Uptown Girl». Her priority is her children — Alexa Ray, Jack, and Sailor, and she once admitted that dating is not always easy at a certain age.
«It's not easy to meet people», - she told Us Weekly in 2019. «When you’re young, you assume no one else is married. But now you assume everyone is already married, so it’s actually hard to meet people».
Even if Christie were to meet someone special, it seems she is not planning to get married anytime soon. «I don’t see a compelling reason for marriage», - she told the magazine at the time. «Maybe there are tax benefits, inheritance benefits, or hospital benefits. But I always thought about having children. And since I don’t have any more children, why complicate my life?»
Of course, this attitude towards marriage came after Christie said «I do» four times in her life. Keep reading to find out what influenced her latest opinion on marriage, meeting her ex-husbands, below.
Christie was only 19 when she went to Paris to study art. There, in 1973, she met and married French artist Jean-François Allaux. For such a young couple, they stayed together for almost 8 years! The artist retired in 2019 from his position as a professor in the art and design department at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, according to the university’s website.
Christie’s most famous marriage was to pop-rock icon Billy Joel. The couple met in 1983 while both were vacationing in St. Barts among the stars. With such star power on the Caribbean island, the author of the hit «Piano Man» had to stand out, and he did, posing like on the cover of his own album. «I tried to look like I did on the album cover. I used every angle», - he told Rolling Stone in 1986. He said he then started playing the piano. «Music was the key to meeting her», - he added. «She sat down and started singing too».
In 1985, the couple married in the New York Harbor aboard a 147-foot yacht, according to People magazine. They welcomed daughter Alexa Ray later that same year. Billy often posts cute photos of Alexa Ray on his Instagram.
By the spring of 1994, Christie and Billy Joel had split. «Just because people can express themselves through their art doesn’t mean they’re great communicators in real life», - Christie said at the time, in a cryptic statement.
The Grammy winner then married Katie Lee in 2004, only to divorce six years later. In 2015, he married equestrian Alexis Roderick, with whom he has daughters Della and Remy.
Christie and developer Richard Taubman had a controversial look at their romantic relationship. The couple survived a helicopter crash together in Telluride in April 1994. By May, Richard had proposed. By the way, she was still married to Billy Joel! However, Christie and Billy split around the same time, allowing her and Richard to marry and welcome son Jack in 1995. The marriage was fairly short-lived, as they separated a year later.
Just a year after parting ways with Richard, Christie was engaged to architect Peter Cook, whom she met when she started her modeling career. Peter later adopted Jack, giving him the name Brinkley-Cook. Jack soon gained a step-sister when Christie and Peter welcomed Sailor on July 2, 1998.
However, the couple split after 10 years of marriage in 2006, after Peter entered into an extramarital relationship with an 18-year-old assistant. During the divorce, allegations were made that he was also addicted to pornography. «My hope is that the world will see that I’m not the scumbag pervert I’ve been portrayed as», - he told Barbara Walters in 2008, according to NBC Washington. «I was looking for a connection that I couldn’t find in my own marriage», - he added
«It's not easy to meet people», - she told Us Weekly in 2019. «When you’re young, you assume no one else is married. But now you assume everyone is already married, so it’s actually hard to meet people».
Even if Christie were to meet someone special, it seems she is not planning to get married anytime soon. «I don’t see a compelling reason for marriage», - she told the magazine at the time. «Maybe there are tax benefits, inheritance benefits, or hospital benefits. But I always thought about having children. And since I don’t have any more children, why complicate my life?»
Of course, this attitude towards marriage came after Christie said «I do» four times in her life. Keep reading to find out what influenced her latest opinion on marriage, meeting her ex-husbands, below.
Christie was only 19 when she went to Paris to study art. There, in 1973, she met and married French artist Jean-François Allaux. For such a young couple, they stayed together for almost 8 years! The artist retired in 2019 from his position as a professor in the art and design department at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, according to the university’s website.
Christie’s most famous marriage was to pop-rock icon Billy Joel. The couple met in 1983 while both were vacationing in St. Barts among the stars. With such star power on the Caribbean island, the author of the hit «Piano Man» had to stand out, and he did, posing like on the cover of his own album. «I tried to look like I did on the album cover. I used every angle», - he told Rolling Stone in 1986. He said he then started playing the piano. «Music was the key to meeting her», - he added. «She sat down and started singing too».
In 1985, the couple married in the New York Harbor aboard a 147-foot yacht, according to People magazine. They welcomed daughter Alexa Ray later that same year. Billy often posts cute photos of Alexa Ray on his Instagram.
By the spring of 1994, Christie and Billy Joel had split. «Just because people can express themselves through their art doesn’t mean they’re great communicators in real life», - Christie said at the time, in a cryptic statement.
The Grammy winner then married Katie Lee in 2004, only to divorce six years later. In 2015, he married equestrian Alexis Roderick, with whom he has daughters Della and Remy.
Christie and developer Richard Taubman had a controversial look at their romantic relationship. The couple survived a helicopter crash together in Telluride in April 1994. By May, Richard had proposed. By the way, she was still married to Billy Joel! However, Christie and Billy split around the same time, allowing her and Richard to marry and welcome son Jack in 1995. The marriage was fairly short-lived, as they separated a year later.
Just a year after parting ways with Richard, Christie was engaged to architect Peter Cook, whom she met when she started her modeling career. Peter later adopted Jack, giving him the name Brinkley-Cook. Jack soon gained a step-sister when Christie and Peter welcomed Sailor on July 2, 1998.
However, the couple split after 10 years of marriage in 2006, after Peter entered into an extramarital relationship with an 18-year-old assistant. During the divorce, allegations were made that he was also addicted to pornography. «My hope is that the world will see that I’m not the scumbag pervert I’ve been portrayed as», - he told Barbara Walters in 2008, according to NBC Washington. «I was looking for a connection that I couldn’t find in my own marriage», - he added
© Zhinobaeva Margarita
