One year after her bitter divorce, Christie Brinkley vows she'll never make the same mistake again. "I would never get married again," the supermodel says in the July issue of Ladies' Home Journal (on newsstands June 9).
"With what I know, I don't see why anyone would get married."
Brinkley — who divorced Peter Cook in July 2008 after he had an affair with his teenage assistant — has decided that after four failed marriages, she is done with the institution. "I totally believe in true love, and I think couples should celebrate their love over and over again," she says, "[but] right at the beginning of a relationship, I would formalize an exit strategy." If she could do it over again, she wishes the custody trial — Brinkley retained sole custody of her two kids and the 18 Hamptons properties that were disputed — wasn't so public.
"I feel like I should apologize to everybody for them having to read all that tawdry stuff, and having it delivered to their kitchen tables when their kids are around, you know?" Brinkley, 55, says. Still, despite accusations, she didn't keep the trial open by choice. "Divorce courts in New York are always open to the public," she says. "I didn't want special treatment." Although she and Cook ended on bad terms, she found solace with her second ex-husband, Billy Joel, who is godfather to her son Jack, 13, and daughter Sailor, 10.
"There have been times when I have had to spend time with lawyers or whatever and he's babysat," she tells Ladies' Home Journal. "He lives nearby, so he's like, 'Sen 'em over here!'" Although she remains close with Joel, she has no new man in her life. "I haven't always followed my own advice, but I've always believed that you've got to be whole before starting with someone new," she says. "You've got to find that inner peace. I'd have to feel, 'Okay, the time is right to be open to that again.'"
