Christie Brinkley reveals getting diagnosed with skin cancer when she took her daughter to a dermatologist

In an interview with Today on May 29, 2024, Christie Brinkley opened up about how she received her skin cancer diagnosis. It was when she accompanied her daughter to her dermatologist appointment, she revealed to hosts Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie in studio 1A, discussing the topic for the first time in a live interview.

The former supermodel noted that it was not her appointment but that she asked for the doctor’s opinion at the last minute. Brinkley recalled asking the doctor to take a look at a “little spot right on the side of [her] head", just as the dermatologist was putting away his things. She mentioned:

“He looked and he goes, ‘We’ve got to do a biopsy immediately. This is something.’ Then the biopsy came back. Cancer.”

More specifically, it was basal cell carcinoma, which Brinkley had previously shared via an Instagram post in March. The post was made after she had undergone surgery to get the cancer removed. In the caption, the former supermodel encouraged her followers to be “diligent with [their] sun protection” as it can help prevent the same.

She also reiterated using sunblock or a hat as well as getting a checkup in her Today appearance.

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Christie Brinkley talked about turning 70 after skin cancer diagnosis

In the same interview, Christie Brinkley also got candid about her milestone birthday and what it has done to her self-image. The Today hosts referenced the former supermodel's short poem explaining how she’s “finally happy”, that she wrote and shared on Instagram in celebration of her 70th birthday.

Brinkley mentioned in the poem that she’s “no longer critical and demanding” and has become “grateful and understanding.”

She mentioned the same in the conversation with Kotb and Guthrie, saying that she was her own “harshest critic” when she was younger. She noted:

“I think I was trying to live up to expectations of what they would think.”

The former supermodel also recalled the aftermath of posing for the cover of Sports Illustrated, saying that she never felt “comfortable on the beach again in a bathing suit.”

However, Christie Brinkley noted that when she turned 70, those insecurities and thinking about other people’s opinions or expectations had vanished, because “it’s [her] life.”

Christie Brinkley also gave a sneak peek of her latest fashion line in the interview. Talking about the inspiration behind it, she said:

“It’s inspired by my house, Towel Hill …. and everything is under a hundred dollars, and we’ve partnered with HSN.”

The former supermodel, who appeared in movies like Jack and Hill, Vacation, and Vegas Vacation, also shared the same venture on her Instagram. She introduced @twrhll_ or Tower Hill, with the collection set to drop on Thursday, May 30, 2024, at 12:00 a.m. ET exclusively on HSN.