Christie Brinkley has rarely discussed her 2006 split from fourth husband Peter Cook but now the former model has recalled the devastating details of the moment a man approached her at a local high school's graduation ceremony to share the heartbreaking news.
Christie had been invited to give a speech at the school in the Hamptons when a man she'd never met before approached her.
© Ron Galella Collection via GettyAccording to her new memoir, Uptown Girl, the man apologized and then softly told her: "I need to tell you, that your arrogant husband of yours has been having an affair with my teenage daughter.”
That husband was Peter Cook whom she had married in 1996 and with whom she had welcomed her daughter, Sailor, and who had adopted her son Jack.
"I was so stunned that I froze," Christie writes in her book, sharing that she looked into the audience where Peter was sitting with their son. "As soon as I saw him, Peter’s eyes were already trained on my face, as he began shaking his head, 'No.'"
© WireImageChristie, who was 52 at the time, continued: "When your whole world falls apart and you realize in a heartbeat you’ve suddenly become the cliche middle-aged woman whose husband is having an affair with a much (much) younger woman, what do you do?"
Together with two friends, Christie then searched their family computer where they found "incriminating photos and porn accounts" that "populated the screen like fireworks" and began printing out.
© GC Images"It was so insane that it was almost funny and soon enough, the three of us were doubled over in laughter, as printouts of girls in X-rated poses began piling up on the floor faster than trash outside a greasy takeaway," Christie writes.
The pair ended up in a long court battle with Christie flashing the V sign for victory as she left the courthouse when their divorce was finalized.
The jury heard that Peter had an affair with then-19-year-old assistant, Diana Bianchi.
© Instagram"I have won custody and decision-making, and that’s all I ever wanted," she told the press at the time, calling it a "bittersweet" moment.
"It really is the death of a marriage, but it’s also, I think, a new start for all of us."
Christie was given sole legal custody and decision-making power over their two children, and Peter was given visitation rights.
Christie also was given the 18 properties she had purchased during their marriage and he was forced to give up the fishing boat she had bought him for his 40th birthday, with the sale proceeds being split between the two.
"I kept saying, 'I don’t understand, what good was a prenup?'" Christie writes in her memoir, out now.
"It was exhausting and scary because I always lived in fear of them taking my kids because that was the constant threat and a terrifying thing to live with. I got a prenup so I didn’t have to go through all this but still did. It was mind boggling and it was hard to write about."
© GettyPeter, 66, is now married again, tying the knot in 2023 to 26-year-old Alba Jancou, four years after they first got engaged.
The couple had a luxe wedding in Capri, Italy, a place they told People holds a special place in their heart, in front of only six guests.
