Christie Brinkley Breaks Silence After Daughter Sailor Brinkley-Cook Is Eliminated From ‘DWTS’

Christie Brinkley is speaking out after her daughter, Sailor Brinkley-Cook’s, shocking elimination on Dancing with the Stars. The legendary supermodel took a full day before posting to Instagram after Sailor was unexpectedly sent home from the ABC celebrity ballroom competition on Monday night.

Sailor, who took her mom’s place on the show after Christie broke her arm in rehearsals, was at the top of her game this week when she scored a whopping 27 points for her “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go” jive with partner Val Chmerkovskiy. Fans were shocked when it was later announced that Sailor was eliminated from the competition, presumably due to low viewer votes. The 21-year-old broke down in tears on-camera when her elimination was announced.

On Wednesday morning, Christie took to Instagram to thank her daughter and her pro partner for their beautiful work on the show. Christie reminded her daughter that she doesn’t need to be on a television show to keep smiling and dancing. The Sports Illustrated modeling legend also included a series of sweet pics and video clips from Sailor’s six weeks in the Dancing with the Stars ballroom.

Fans hit the comments section of Christie’s post to express sadness over her daughter’s unexpected elimination.

“Such a complete joy watching her dance – loved every minute and still can’t understand why she’s not still there,” one fan wrote.

“To see her cry broke my heart. She deserved to be on much longer,” another fan said.

“I cried for you as I know your heart was breaking!” another commenter wrote to Christie. “We were all shocked! Sailor is darling & will continue to soar! Deep breath, mama!”

“Nothing sweeter than a mom’s unconditional support. She has certainly set ‘sail’ to new uncharted waters,” another added.

Indeed, Christie was probably more invested than most parents of a Dancing with the Stars contender, because she was the one originally on the show and Sailor was her replacement. Christie was a fixture at rehearsals and in the live DWTS audience — until this week, when she missed the taping for the first time.

In a post-elimination interview with USA Today, Sailor revealed that her mom called her in tears after the live show on Monday night.

“She was sobbing on the phone when I spoke to her after. It was as devastating for her as it was for me,” Sailor said. “She just didn’t expect it. And this was the one week she didn’t come watch the show. This was just an unexpected twist.”

Sailor later told People that her mom ultimately helped her stay positive after the disappointing results were announced.

“She just told me that things like this happen in life and everything leads to some other great door opening,” Sailor said. She added that she was “lucky” to have had this experience.

In addition to her mom, Sailor received messages of support from her brother, Jack Brinkley-Cook, and her sister, Alexa Ray Joel.

Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays at 8 p.m.