The model tells ET she 'could cry' just thinking about how her daughter's journey on 'DWTS' ended last week.
Christie Brinkley is opening up about daughter Sailor Brinkley-Cook's shocking elimination from Dancing With the Stars.
ET exclusively caught up with the model in Italy on Monday, where she revealed just how heartbroken she was last week when Sailor and pro partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy were the couple sent home from the dance competition show.
"So, what was going through my mind when Sailor was eliminated on Dancing With the Stars is probably left best unspoken," said Christie, who was in Italy with ET to promote her organic and vegan Bellissima Prosecco and sparkling wines line. "I like to stick on the high road. I like to look for the positives and what we can be grateful for, and there was a lot to be grateful for. I was so, so, SO happy to see my daughter discover a new talent that she didn't know she had before, and to gain so much confidence."
"But I could cry thinking about that ending, I honestly could," she continued, getting a little teary-eyed, just as her daughter did during the last few minutes of last week's show. "It was very unfair. Sailor impressed me with her ability to rise above everything that went down that evening. I didn't need to say a word. She just... I think from the way she was raised, she knew what to do. I was just so proud of her."
For those who haven't been tuning in to season 28, Sailor stepped in last minute to compete for her mom, who had to withdraw ahead of the premiere due to an injury. Last week, just hours after being sent home, Sailor and Val stopped by ET for their first interview since being eliminated, where they opened up about how Christie first reacted to the news.
"She was just as heartbroken as I am," Sailor shared. "I don't think that any of my close family or friends, they didn't think that this would happen. So, I was not only sad that this experience ended for me, but for them too. Because they loved watching, they loved tuning in. They were always my biggest support system."
"My mom was always so excited," she continued. "She was planning on coming back [to the ballroom] next week. Everyone sort of had this idea that they were going to have this show to root on."
Dancing With the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on ABC. In the meantime, hear more from Sailor and Val's sit-down with ET in the video below.
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