Christie Brinkley is opening up like never before by way of her new memoir, Uptown Girl, which was released on April 29. The model wrote about her romantic relationships over the years — including her marriage to Billy Joel (1985 until 1994).
On the book’s inside pages, Brinkley recalled the highs and the lows of her relationship with Joel, and discussed his issues with alcohol — which she kept private for years.
“I loved him and I wanted to make it work,” she told the Los Angeles Times. “Drinking is a disease. And I knew that there had to be some way to help him, and not always get to that point where this person who you love is suddenly a stranger to you.”
“I was 100% dedicated to Billy, but I never told anyone about our issues, not even my friends. It was very difficult in that way, but we had a child together and I was trying to protect the family,” she added.
Brinkley recalled one particular instance when a drunk Joel blamed his family members for eating pasta that he himself had eaten and kicked them out of the house. It was one memory that Brinkley remembers well — but she wasn’t sure that she wanted to share it.
“I hesitated to put that scene in the book. But at the same time, it demonstrates what I was up against,” she told the Los Angeles Times.
In her memoir, Brinkley said that it was Joel’s drinking that ultimately ended her marriage.
“To be clear, I never wanted to end things with Billy. But his drinking was bigger than the both of us,” she wrote.
In an interview with People magazine earlier this month, Brinkley said that the situation was “painful.” These days, Brinkley and Joel, who are parents to daughter Alexa Ray Joel, are on good terms.
“He lives mainly in Florida so we don’t see him as much as when he lived in Sag Harbor, but when he comes by to see Alexa, he’ll come in and say hello,” Brinkley previously told People.
Joel has previously spoken out about his struggles with substance abuse and he’s been to rehab at least twice. In 2023, he told the Los Angeles Times that he stopped drinking “a couple of years ago.”
