Christie Brinkley is pulling back the curtain on one of the most defining—and difficult—chapters of her life: her nearly 10-year marriage to music legend Billy Joel.

In her new memoir, Uptown Girl, Brinkley reveals the emotional complexity behind her decision to walk away from a man she deeply loved. The book, named after the iconic 1983 hit Joel wrote about her, offers an unflinching look at the toll addiction can take on even the most glamorous of relationships.

“To be clear, I never wanted to end things with Billy,” Brinkley wrote. “I read every self-help book I could find… We went to see a string of psychiatrists, psychologists, and other medical doctors.”

Despite her efforts to salvage the relationship, Brinkley said she came to a heartbreaking realization: “Booze was the other woman, and it was beginning to seem that he preferred to be with ‘her’ rather than with me.”

During an interview with Fox News Digital, the supermodel shared how her connection with Joel began—remarkably, on the same night he met another of his famous former flames, Elle Macpherson. Brinkley recalled, “We hit it off immediately. I mean, immediately.” At first, their bond was purely platonic, but over time, friendship evolved into something deeper.

“And then when he came back into my life and he was so wonderful, I started to see him differently,” she said. “It was really great to start out with a friendship and have that friendship evolve into a full-on romantic adventure.”

That romance would eventually become one of the most talked-about marriages of the ’80s. Joel confirmed in 2010 that Uptown Girl—originally inspired by multiple muses—became singularly about Brinkley as their relationship took shape. “Then I started dating Christie… she became the ‘Uptown Girl,’” Joel said.

Brinkley and Joel married in 1985 and had one child together, singer-songwriter Alexa Ray Joel. But behind the fairy-tale image, the reality was far more difficult.

“Walking away from Billy was not easy,” Brinkley admitted. “When you have a child involved… it took time, but at a certain point there's one incident too many, and you just have to have a little self-preservation.”

Their divorce was finalized in 1994, but Brinkley has no bitterness in her heart. She believes in love now as much as ever. “I find love is the strongest thing in the whole world, and we are surrounded with love,” she said. “There's so many kinds of love: love for our friends, love for our families, love for nature…”

Now a proud mother of three and still radiating the same warmth and positivity that made her a household name, Brinkley says she’s open to romantic love if it finds her again—but she’s already full of joy.

“I also feel very content and happy with the life that I have right now,” she said. “I consider my life to be very full of love.”

Brinkley’s story reminds us that love is not always easy, but it’s always worth holding onto—even when it means learning to let go.