Every parent who’s watched their child fall in love and get engaged will understand the joy that Billy Joel and Christie Brinkley are feeling today.
The singer took to social media on Wednesday to announce the couple’s daughter Alexa Ray Joel, 32, had said “yes” after her boyfriend Ryan Gleason popped the question over the holiday period.
“She’s got a way about her! Alexa Ray Joel is engaged to her boyfriend, restaurateur Ryan Gleason,” Joel wrote on Twitter.
Brinkley also took to social media to share the happy news, posting a loving tribute to her daughter and her future son-in-law and showing off a photo of the of the pair celebrating.
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“Under the largest moon on the year, my little Moonbeam got engaged, and I am over the moon with joy for these two!” she wrote.
It appears Gleason has already won his future in-laws approval, too, proposing with a whopping diamond ring.
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“Ryan is the sweetest, kindest, hard working man who sincerely loves and adores my precious Alexa Ray so I love him too and while we have always thought of him as family soon he really will be! What a beautiful way for our family to start the New Year,” Brinkley added.
Alexa Ray is Brinkley and Joel’s only child from their nine-year marriage. The pair divorced in 1994.
It’s been a big few months for Joel, 68, who welcomed his daughter Remy Anne in October with his third wife Alexis Roderick. It Remy Anne is Joel’s third daughter, and his second child with Roderick.
Like her father, Alexa Ray is a singer, songwriter and pianist. She’s spoken in the past about wanting to move out from under the shadow of her parents’ fame.
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Despite their marriage breakdown, Brinkley and Joel have remained friends over the years, with the model telling E! News in 2011 they worked hard to make their divorce as easy as possible for their daughter.
“Well, I’ve had a lot of practice. You know what it was, we had Alexa [Ray Joel] together and we knew that was going to bind us together for life so we wanted to make our divorce work,” she explained.
“Of course as you’re going through it, you know, you can get a little bit raw, but you cannot find him saying a bad word about me or me saying a bad word about him, no matter what happens.”
The family will be no doubt rallying together in the coming months to help plan Alexa Ray’s wedding and celebrate the big day together.