Who Is Christie Brinkley's Ex Peter Cook Married To Now?
Christie Brinkley hasn't had much luck in love. From losing boyfriend Olivier Chandon de Brailles to a race car accident in the '80s to surviving a helicopter crash with her future husband Richard Taubman in April 1996, Brinkley has lived through her fair share of trauma. The iconic "Sports Illustrated" model has also experienced plenty of regular heartache in her relationships. Her fourth and last marriage ended amid a cheating scandal.
After being introduced by journalist Jill Rappaport, Brinkley became engaged to Peter Cook in August 1996 and married him a month later. For 10 years, they looked like the textbook power couple, with the architect even adopting Brinkley's son, Jack, in 1997 — a year before he and Brinkley welcomed their daughter Sailor.
But it all came crashing down in 2006 when Brinkley found out he was having an extramarital affair with a 19-year-old assistant. That July, Brinkley announced they were separating, ABC News reported. "My world was completely shattered," Brinkley said in court.
None of it looked good. In an interview with the New York Post, Diana Bianchi said she was only 17 when she met Cook, who offered her a position at his architectural firm. "He first physically made advances at me ... probably around a month after I started working there," she said. Brinkley's divorce from Cook was finalized in 2008 and both moved on from the whole mess. Cook has even gotten married again, and it seems his attraction for much younger women wasn't a one-time thing.
Alba Jancou is 40 years younger than Peter Cook
On Sept. 8, 2023, Peter Cook said "I do" to Alba Jancou in an intimate ceremony in Capri, Italy. At the time, Jancou was a 24-year-old real estate agent from New Hampton who had been engaged to Christie Brinkley's ex-husband since September 2019, when Cook popped the question during a Greek getaway. Despite her job selling upscale property, Jancou has a different background. In 2022, she earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from The New School in New York, a feat she celebrated on Instagram. "College grad," she captioned a photo of herself in a cap and gown.
Jancou grew up between New York and Europe, having attended school in Somerset, England, where she focused on media, business, and psychology at the Millfield boarding school, according to her profile on Hamptons Real Estate's website. She also spent a lot of time in Gstaad, Switzerland. In early 2019, Jancou moved to Sag Harbor. Cook's architectural business is based in Southampton, which suggests Jancou left New York City after getting together with her now-husband.
As her prestigious education and childhood experiences in the Swiss Alps indicate, Jancou hails from New York elite circles. She is the daughter of Tanya Bonakdar, the prominent New York gallerist and curator behind her eponymous art gallery in Chelsea. Jancou's father is also an art dealer who runs the Marc Jancou gallery in New York. According to his LinkedIn, it was because of his work that his family bounced between London, Zurich, and Manhattan.
Peter Cook reportedly lied about Alba Jancou's age
When Peter Cook got engaged to Alba Jancou, he told the media she was 21. However, Page Six reported she was actually 20 after finding a Twitter photo that showed her celebrating her 18th birthday in March 2017. Cook claimed the date was wrong, and Jancou deleted the post. Cook and Jancou started dating in August 2018, her Instagram suggests. "One year ago you came into my life and changed it for the better in every possible way," she captioned an August 2019 post.
That means she was 19 when their romance took off. But Cook reportedly met Jancou in 2017, when she was 18. "They originally met two years ago at Le Bilboquet, but didn't start dating until a year ago," a source told Radar in 2019, referring to the famous Manhattan bistro. Sources told Page Six that Cook may have lied about his then-fiancée's age because Jancou is a year younger than his own daughter, Sailor Brinkley Cook.
The insiders also contended Sailor was far from thrilled about the whole situation. However, it is unclear whether the engagement affected Sailor's relationship with her father. "She always raves about him. But she has not said a word to anybody about his personal life or the new girlfriend," an insider told People. It looks like Sailor didn't attend the wedding, though. Christie Brinkley posted a photo to Instagram that suggests Sailor was with her mother and sister Alexa Joel that weekend.