Everything to Know About Alba Jancou, Peter Cook’s 21-Year-Old Fiancée
Peter Cook, the ex-husband of Christie Brinkley, is set to the tie the knot again.
The 60-year-old Hamptons-based architect recently got engaged to his 21-year-old girlfriend Alba Jancou, PEOPLE confirmed.
Cook, who shares daughter Sailor, 21 (and adopted Brinkley’s son Jack, 24) with ex-wife Brinkley, 65, has reportedly been dating Jancou for about a year.
“We are very happy,” Cook told PEOPLE.
“We consider ourselves incredibly lucky to have found, in each other, our soulmate,” Cook added in a statement to Page Six. “We are looking forward to many years of wedded bliss!”
So who is Cook’s bride-to-be? Here’s everything we know about his new leading lady.
She’s a student
Jancou’s LinkedIn page — which was viewed by Page Six but has since been deleted — indicated that she is a current student at Tulane University in New Orleans, Louisiana, and expects to graduate in 2021.
She went to boarding school
Before enrolling at Tulane, Jancou “attended a prestigious English private boarding school” called Millfield, which is located in southern England. Millfield offers pre-prep school (grades 2-7), prep school (7-13) and senior school (14-18), according to the website, and is “one of the leading UK independent schools for boys and girls, aged 2-18 years.”
Her parents are New York City art dealers
According to Page Six, public records show that Jancou is the daughter of prominent New York art gallery owners Tanya Bonakdar, 53, and Marc Jancou, 51. Bonakdar is the founder and director of two self-titled galleries — one in N.Y.C’s Chelsea neighborhood and another in Los Angeles, according to her website.
Jancou owns Marc Jancou Contemporary, which has galleries in Switzerland, London and New York (near Central Park), according to his Instagram. Jancou also has an active website, which states that his first gallery space opened in 1991 and that he’s been a “key proponent in the development of both established and emerging artists alike.”
She got engaged in Greece
Cook and Jancou were vacationing in Santorini, Greece on Sept. 15, when Cook popped the question with a six-carat Glenn Bradford diamond ring in front of a church, Page Six reports. Over the summer they were photographed out and about together at events in the Hamptons, including Bobby Flay’s Hamptons Magazine cover celebration in July and the Hampton Classic Horse Show Grand Prix in early September.
This will be Cook’s third marriage. He was previously married to Brinkely from 1996 to 2008, but the former couple divorced after Brinkley learned of Cook’s affair with his then-19-year-old assistant Diana Bianchi. Cook got remarried to Suzanne Shaw shortly after his cheating scandal broke. The pair split in 2014.
After Bianchi came forward in 2007, Cook was also accused of having romantic relations with another former employee, Samantha Cole, who was 18 at the time. He allegedly proposed to her in May 1996 — three months before he became engaged to Brinkley — but she declined.
