Fallen Dancing With the Stars performer Christie Brinkley’s ex-husband is engaged to a 21-year-old college student. Peter Cook’s fiancée is the same age as his daughter, Sailor Brinkley-Cook.
Cook proposed to Tulane University student Alba Jancou while on vacation in Santorini. He was equipped with a six-carat diamond ring, and asked for her hand in marriage while outside of a church. According to People, the 60-year-old architect has a storied history with women much younger than he is. His six-year marriage to Brinkley fell apart after a cheating scandal with his teenage assistant. Prior to that relationship, Cook was rumored to have been involved with another teenage employee who allegedly rejected his marriage proposal just three months before he got down on one knee with Brinkley back in 1996.
Cook issued a statement about his engagement to Page Six. “We consider ourselves incredibly lucky to have found, in each other, our soulmate,” he said. “We are looking forward to many years of wedded bliss!” Jancou and Cook have been dating for about a year. The couple has made the rounds through the illustrious Hamptons social circuit, attending the Hampton Classic Horse Show Grand Prix, which was held in September. They also popped up at Bobby Flay’s Hamptons Magazine cover party in July 2019. Although Jancou has remained on Cook’s arm throughout the entire social season, she’s still registered as a student at Tulane University in New Orleans.
Cook’s split from Brinkley became tabloid fodder when details of his salacious affair with Diana Bianchi came to light. His second marriage, to Suzanne Shaw, also ended in divorce - allegedly due to his womanizing. Shaw was so traumatized by her marriage, that she issued a public apology to Brinkley for not heeding her warnings about him. There’s no word whether Jancou has received any such warnings from Cook’s myriad of exes.
Older men have fantasized about dating younger women for years. The fact that Peter Cook lives this reality day-after-day is his business. While some may find it surprising to imagine that a 21-year-old could feel any sort of romantic kinship with a man old enough to be her father (or grandfather, in some communities), they seem to enjoy each other’s company. There are, after all, worse fates than marrying a well-to-do artist with financial security, even if he is just a few years away from collecting a social security check. Hopefully, Cook will remember how happy he is to have Jancou in his life, because one day, she will get older. Let’s also hope that Jancou doesn’t decide that she desires someone her own age as Cook careens towards his seventies.
Next: Dancing with the Stars’ Sailor Brinkley-Cook Sent Home in Tears in Unexpected Elimination
Source: Page Six, People
