MODEL BEHAVIOUR

With the release of her memoir, Uptown Girl, supermodel Christie Brinkley opens up about being married to Billy Joel, bonding with nature and leaving a legacy of love

- INTERVIEW: AMY BIELBY

'IT'S AN INTERESTING EMOTIONAL JOURNEY TO THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'VE DONE AND WHERE YOU'VE BEEN'

Christie For Christie Brinkley, everything comes down to love. “It really is the most powerful thing that drives you,” she tells Hello! Canada. And this woman is driven.

At just 18, Christie followed her heart, relocating from Los Angeles to Paris in hopes of pursuing a career in art. Within a year, she was discovered by a photographer, who told her she had model potential. Snapped up by top agency Elite, the self-described “surfer girl” moved back to California, landed three ad campaigns and never looked back.

Now, at 71, with more than 500 magazine covers under her belt and acting credits spanning TV, film and theatre, the New York City resident has added author to her impressive resumé with a tell-all memoir, Uptown Girl.

Within the pages, Christie gets candid about her not-so-perfect childhood with an abusive father, the struggles of four marriages – including her 10-year union with singer Billy Joel – and a near-fatal helicopter crash in 1994.

Even during her lowest points, the mom of three (Christie shares daughter Alexa, 39, with Billy and also has a son, Jack, 30, and daughter Sailor, 26, from previous marriages) has remained a champion of love. When Billy, 76, disclosed in May that he is suffering from a brain disorder and unable to perform, she took to Instagram with a touching post, telling him, “We love you, the kids, me and a whole bunch of full arenas!”

Here, the model mom, entrepreneur and perpetual ray of sunshine shares a little of her magic with Hello! Canada.