Christie Brinkley Finalizes Divorce
Christie Brinkley and Peter Cook have finalized their divorce, Extra reports.
The two settled their bitter public divorce battle in July, with Brinkley receiving sole custody of their two children, Jack, 13, and Sailor, 10.
She also retained all 18 properties in the Hamptons. Brinkley agreed to pay Cook $2.1 million.
The couple split two years ago after Cook has an affair with his 18-year-old assistant, Diana Bianchi.
In a 20/20 interview airing Friday, Cook said Brinkley caused him to cheat.
“I was seeking a connection I could not find in my own marriage…” he says. “I think the emotional aspect of our lives had changed. I think we were both feeling more like we were living with a brother and sister than a life partner… I think I just suddenly realized when I was getting attention from someone else that this is something that is missing in my life.”
Asked what he wanted out of his marriage, Cook tells Walters, “a little acknowledgement, a little attention, a little thank you every now and then for my efforts, for the amount of time I took to care for her and my family, for the wealth I was building.
“Just the tremendous amount of work I was putting into my family… my world became her world,” he went on. “It had to be that way… there came a time when I pulled up the driveway to the home that I found, that I built, that I lived in, and I felt like I was a guest in someone else’s life.”
Cook said he decided to speak out now because he hopes “the world will see that I’m not the scumbag pervert that I’ve been painted to be.
“The misinformation that came out during the trial is the elephant in the room,” he added. “It’s the elephant in the room for my kids. And I’m hoping maybe if I can correct some of the wrongs.”
What if Brinkley watches the interview?
“What I hope comes of it is that she takes the time to heal herself. And she goes back and remembers that I made a mistake, but that I am that person that she wrote the poems about, that she raved about in magazine articles and anybody who she could get… twist their ear to listen,” Cook said. “I am that person today, that I was then.”
