Model and the legendary singer-songwriter were married for almost 10 years

Model Christie Brinkley has opened up about her marriage to musician Billy Joel, and the behaviour that led to her asking for a divorce.

Brinkley and the “Piano Man” star were married in 1985 and had one child, daughter Alexa Ray Joel, before divorcing in 1994.

They met at a dive bar in St Bart’s while Brinkley was reeling from the death of her boyfriend, Olivier Chandon de Brailles – the 27-year-old heir to the Moët & Chandon champagne fortune – in a racing accident in 1983.

Now 71, Brinkley has been married four times but remains closest to Joel and has named her new memoir, “Uptdown Girl”, after the hit 1983 song inspired in part by her.

In an interview withPage Six, Brinkley, known for her hundreds of magazine covers including for Vogue and Sports Illustrated, said it was Joel’s drinking problem that ultimately resulted in their relationship ending.

“If there wasn’t that issue … ,” she said. “I do think that we were probably really soulmates, it was an amazing time of my life.

“I had so much fun. We were such nomads, gypsies — just between his job and mine, we were seeing the world … It was wonderful, really wonderful.”

In the book, Brinkley apparently wrote that Joel would disappear for days while in the middle of a drinking binge, on one occasion going missing for two days after leaving Alex’s fifth birthday party.