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Who

Best known as Christie Brinkley's philandering, scandal-tainted ex-husband, Cook is an architect who designs Shingle style homes for moderately wealthy Hamptonites.

Backstory

Jersey native Cook dabbled in modeling in college (a picture of him, clad in a Speedo on a 1981 GQ cover, made the rounds after his 2006 sex debacle) before attending architecture school in the mid-'80s. Following an apprenticeship with Hamptons architect Eugene Futterman, Cook set up his own practice in 1987. He's since become known for his spacious, upper-end "cottages," which typically have shingled exteriors and scores of dormered windows and fireplaces. His clients include Anne Hearst and her husband Jay McInerney.

Drama

In July 2006, word got out of Cook's affair with his 18-year-old-assistant, Diana Bianchi. Things got worse when it was revealed that he'd plied her with thousands of dollars in cash and gifts—including a Nissan Maxima—and had hired her as his assistant just to woo her. Following the revelation, Brinkley booted Cook from their estate in Bridgehampton and filed for divorce. Shortly afterward, another ex-assistant of Cook's came forward and claimed Cook had cheated on Brinkley with her when she was 18. In mid-2007, Cook settled a lawsuit brought against him by Bianchi for an undisclosed sum.

But the full extent of Cook's sketchiness didn't become public until his July 2008 divorce trial when it was revealed that Cook had a $3,000-a-month Internet porn habit, trolled swingers sites for "young fit girls" and offered Bianchi $300,000 in hush money not to discuss their relationship. A week into the trial, the case was settled; per the terms negotiated, Cook walked away with $2.1 million and Christie won sole custody of the couple's kids as well as possession of nearly $60 million worth of real estate.

Personal

Cook and Brinkley met in the mid-'90s following her divorce from Billy Joel; the couple got hitched in 1996 and had a daughter, Sailor Lee; Cook also adopted Christie's son, Jack Paris, from her previous marriage. Cook now lives with his girlfriend Suzanne Shaw in a Sag Harbor home he purchased for $2 million from Glamour publisher Bill Wackermann in mid-2007.

True story

In 1982, when Cook was 23, he was arrested at a highway rest stop on Long Island for attempting to sell cocaine to an undercover cop. He pled guilty to one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance and was sentenced to probation.