Christie Brinkley opens up about skin cancer diagnosis: ‘Wasn’t even scheduled for a check-up’

Christie Brinkley spoke in a new interview about her accidental diagnosis with skin cancer. Photo / AP

Model and actress Christie Brinkley has spoken about the last-minute decision that resulted in her skin cancer diagnosis.

Brinkley, 70, appeared on the Today show this week, and explained that she found out she had a basal cell carcinoma on her face when she went along to her daughter’s dermatologist appointment.

“I wasn’t even scheduled for a check-up,” she explained.

Brinkley is mum to 38-year-old Alexa with her first husband, singer Billy Joel, and accompanied her daughter to the appointment.

She told the TV hosts, “I was in the room, and he had this little magnifying glass out, and he’s looking at a couple of things that she was worried about.

“I thought, ‘There is that little spot right on the side of my head right here. Should I say anything? It’s not my appointment.’”

But at the last second, she decided to ask the dermatologist to take a look at the spot.

“Right at the very end, I said, ‘Before you put that away do you think you could just look at this?’”

His response was, “We’ve got to do a biopsy immediately. This is something”.

The biopsy revealed the spot was cancerous, and Brinkley shared images on Instagram in March this year following surgery to have it removed.

She wrote at the time, “The good news for me is we caught the basal cell carcinoma early. And I had great doctors that removed the cancer and stitched me up to perfection like an haute couture Dior.”

The model encouraged her followers, “The good news for you is that all of this can be avoided by being diligent with your sun protection! I got serious a bit late so now for this ole mermaid/gardener, I’ll be slathering on my SPF 30, reapplying as needed, wearing long sleeves and a wide-brim hat.”

What is basal cell carcinoma?

Basal cell carcinoma, often referred to as BCC, is a form of non-melanoma skin cancer, meaning it doesn’t involve skin pigment cells. BCC often appears on skin in the form of scabs that bleed.

BCC is the most common type of skin cancer in humans and is particularly prevalent in New Zealand and Australia.

Data suggests that around 70,000 BCCs will be diagnosed each year in New Zealand, which is roughly 2 per cent of the adult population, according to Skintel.