Peter Halsey Cook: the verified story of Christie Brinkley’s ex-husband
Peter Halsey Cook is an American architect based in the Hamptons and the fourth husband of supermodel Christie Brinkley. The two first met on a modeling job in 1979, reconnected years later, and married in 1996. Their marriage ended in a divorce trial in 2008 that Brinkley insisted be held in open court, making it one of the most publicized celebrity splits of the decade.
They have a daughter, model Sailor Brinkley Cook, and Cook adopted Brinkley’s son Jack. He has remarried since and still works as an architect on Long Island’s East End.
Most pages about him are vague on his career and specific about things nobody can verify, like his exact birthday and net worth. This article sticks to the reported record.
Quick facts
| Detail | Verified information |
|---|---|
| Name | Peter Halsey Cook |
| Age | 47 in 2006 and 60 in 2019, per contemporary reporting, so born around 1958 or 1959 |
| Profession | Architect, based in the Hamptons, New York |
| Known for | Fourth husband of Christie Brinkley and their 2008 divorce trial |
| Married Brinkley | 1996 |
| Divorced | 2008 |
| Children | Daughter Sailor Brinkley Cook (born 1998) and adopted son Jack |
| Later marriages | Suzanne Shaw, divorced 2014, and Alba Jancou, engaged 2019 |
His exact birth date, education, and firm details are not confirmed by reliable sources.
Who is he?
Peter Cook is an architect who has spent his career in the Hamptons, the stretch of eastern Long Island known for expensive oceanfront homes. He worked in residential architecture there well before and long after his marriage.
He also modeled early on. Wikipedia’s entry on his daughter notes that Cook once modeled alongside Christie Brinkley in 1979, nearly two decades before they married. That detail is easy to miss and explains how their paths first crossed.
He became a public figure through his marriage and, more so, through the trial that ended it. Unlike most celebrity spouses in that position, he has continued to appear publicly since, including on social media.
Marriage to Christie Brinkley (1996–2008)
Cook was Brinkley’s fourth husband. She had previously been married to artist Jean-François Allaux, musician Billy Joel, and developer Richard Taubman.
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1979 | Cook and Brinkley model together |
| 1996 | They marry |
| 1998 | Daughter Sailor Lee Brinkley Cook is born on July 2 |
| 2006 | Brinkley learns of Cook’s affair with an 18-year-old employee. They separate in July |
| 2006 | Brinkley files for divorce in Suffolk County Court |
| 2008 | The divorce trial opens in Central Islip, New York |
| 2008 | The case settles and the divorce is finalized |
Cook also adopted Jack, Brinkley’s son from her marriage to Richard Taubman.
How Brinkley found out
In her 2025 memoir Uptown Girl, Brinkley describes learning about the affair at a high school graduation in the Hamptons, where she was giving a speech. A man she did not know approached her and told her that her husband had been involved with his teenage daughter. She writes that she froze, then looked out at Cook in the audience, who was already shaking his head.
The young woman was 18 and worked in the office of Cook’s architecture business.
The 2008 divorce trial
The trial is why Cook’s name is still searched nearly two decades later. Brinkley refused to settle privately and insisted on an open courtroom, so reporters covered every day of testimony.
What the reporting from the time establishes:
- Custody was the central issue. Their children were 10 and 13 during the trial, and both sides fought over Cook’s role in raising them.
- Cook testified first and admitted the affair. His lawyer described his actions as selfish, and Cook apologized for them.
- Testimony also covered his online activity, including spending on adult websites, which his lawyers acknowledged and he apologized for.
- Property was also in dispute, including Hamptons real estate Cook had helped Brinkley buy.
- Brinkley’s lawyers argued that his judgment made him unfit for a prominent parenting role. His lawyer argued that Brinkley was airing private details to punish him.
- The trial was paused and then settled before it ran its full expected course.
NPR and Slate covered the trial as a story about open courtrooms as much as a celebrity story, since Brinkley’s choice to keep it public was unusual.
Some sites say the settlement was not finalized until 2012. Contemporary reporting and Brinkley’s own timeline point to 2008.
His children
Cook has two children through his marriage to Brinkley.
- Sailor Brinkley Cook, born July 2, 1998, in Bridgehampton, is a model signed with IMG. She competed on Dancing with the Stars in 2019, stepping in for her mother after an injury. Billy Joel is her godfather.
- Jack Paris Brinkley Cook, born in 1995, is Brinkley’s son from her marriage to Richard Taubman. Cook adopted him during the marriage.
Despite how the marriage ended, reports have described Sailor as close with her father. Both children are adults, so this page does not cover their private lives.
Life after Brinkley
Cook did not disappear from public life. He has married twice since and stayed in the Hamptons.
| Relationship | Status |
|---|---|
| Suzanne Shaw | Married after the Brinkley divorce, divorced in 2014 |
| Alba Jancou | Engaged in Santorini in October 2019, when he was 60 and she was 21 |
Fox News reported the 2019 engagement, including his Instagram announcement and a quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald. Later reporting describes the couple as married.
He continues to work as an architect on residential projects in the Hamptons.
Facts vs claims
Bio pages about Cook contradict each other on nearly every personal detail. Here is how the common claims hold up.
| Claim | Status | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Architect based in the Hamptons | Supported | Consistent across news reports |
| Christie Brinkley’s fourth husband, married 1996 | Supported | Wikipedia, AP, CBS News |
| Daughter Sailor, born 1998 | Supported | Wikipedia, contemporary reporting |
| Adopted Brinkley’s son Jack | Supported | CBS News, 2006 |
| Born January 1, 1959 | Unconfirmed | Widely repeated with no source |
| Born January 1, 1960 | Contradicted | CBS described him as 47 in 2006, which points to 1958 or 1959 |
| Net worth of about $20 million | Unsupported | No source, and no public record of his finances |
| Annual salary of $450,000 | Invented | One site states this with no source |
| “Media personality” | Misleading | He is an architect, not a media professional |
| Shoe size, birth sign, religion | Invented | Template filler |
One page lists his shoe size and star sign next to his salary. That mix is the clearest sign you are reading a generated profile rather than reporting.
A note on sensitive details
This article does not name the young woman involved in the 2006 affair or repeat the more graphic testimony from the trial. Those details were aired in open court and covered widely at the time, but restating them adds nothing here. The relevant facts are that Cook admitted the affair, apologized in court, and that it ended the marriage.
Where is he now?
Cook lives in the Hamptons and continues to practice architecture. He is married to Alba Jancou and remains in contact with his daughter Sailor.
He is also active on Instagram, which makes him unusual among ex-spouses of celebrities. Most step away from public view. He has chosen to stay visible.
The bottom line
Cook is a Hamptons architect whose private life became national news in 2008 because his wife chose to hold their divorce trial in public. The verified story covers the 1979 modeling job, the 1996 marriage, two children, an affair that ended it, and the open courtroom that followed.
If you read anything giving his exact birthday, net worth, or salary, check where the number came from. In every case I checked, the answer was nowhere.
Sources
- Wikipedia – Christie Brinkley
- The Associated Press and CBS News, which this article cites for the marriage, the adoption of Brinkley’s son Jack and Cook’s reported age
- NPR and Slate, which this article names for their coverage of the 2008 divorce trial
- Fox News, which this article names for its report of the 2019 engagement to Alba Jancou
- Uptown Girl (2025), Christie Brinkley’s memoir, which this article names for her account of learning about the affair
JacksonPadilla is a writer at Around Celebrities, covering celebrity families, relationships, biographies, and the stories behind the stars. With a focus on clear and engaging storytelling, JacksonPadilla helps readers discover the people and connections beyond the spotlight.
