EXCLUSIVE: Booze Addiction and 'Affair' — Christie Brinkley Lifts Lid on Life of Horror With Brain Disorder-Stricken Billy Joel
Christie Brinkley opened up on her marriage to Billy Joel following the release of her memoir, 'Uptown Girl.'
June 11 2025, Published 3:30 p.m. ET
Christie Brinkley admitted her whirlwind life with Billy Joel, filled with an alcohol addiction and a possible affair, was too much to handle, and she "had to walk away," RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The 71-year-old appeared on the Totally Booked with Zibby podcast to open up about her ex-husband, who is now dealing with a brain disorder.
Brinkley's Painful Dilemma
Brinkley appeared on the 'Totally Booked With Zibby' podcast to discuss her marriage to Joel.
In Brinkley's new memoir, Uptown Girl, the former model detailed plenty on her life with Joel, including the dark times; something that she found difficult to do.
"The part that stressed me the most, because I'd never, ever want to hurt him, is (writing) about Billy," Brinkley said during her podcast chat. "I don't like to ever say anything bad about anybody, but I needed to explain myself, like why would I ever have walked away from that relationship that was so wonderful, that was so just beautiful.
"But there was something that I couldn't compete with, that I tried and I tried to come at it from every angle I knew how. I tried to make our life as perfect as I could, his life as perfect as I could. And I tried, but I had to do something, just to preserve my own soul at that time."
'His Behavior Hurt Me'
Joel's addiction to alcohol and a possible affair led to Brinkley walking away.
Brinkley explained she "had to walk away" from the relationship, and "I also had to write about it so that people understood why.
"I think that in context, I make it clear that he was under a kind of stress that – no one should have to deal with the kind of stress that he was under. There were extenuating circumstances that were really awful. And so obviously it doesn't excuse it. There is the disease. But it explains why that got out of hand, but I worried about that..."
The blonde beauty continued: "We were together for 12 years. We dated the first year and lived together. We were engaged the next year, and then we were married... And so during that time, I have like maybe four instances in the book of where his behavior hurt me and I explained it, and in context, I think it's understandable."
Despite the drama from their rollercoaster marriage, Brinkley wanted to make it "very clear how magical my time with him was."
The former model said some of Joel's 'behavior hurt me.'
In her book, Brinkley touches on numerous affairs Joel is believed to have had while married.
"To this day, Billy continues to deny ever having had affairs, and I've always believed him," she admitted in her memoir. "But on that New Year's Day in 1994, when he did finally straggle home, I asked him to leave." While she "never wanted to end things" with Joel, the "other woman" became their marriage's last straw.
Brinkley, who was married to Joel from 1985 to 1994, said: "I did everything for our marriage, constantly working to make myself, our home, and everything around us into whatever he could possibly want or hope for.
"I continually told him how much I loved him, making sure he always felt adored and appreciated, because he was."
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The 'Piano Man' hitmaker is now dealing with a brain disorder.
"But his drinking was bigger than both of us – booze was the other woman, and it was beginning to seem that he preferred to be with 'her' rather than with me," Brinkley recalled.
Joel, 76, who was diagnosed with normal pressure hydrocephalus, is being supported by Brinkley and their daughter, Alexa Ray.
