This article was originally posted on The Celeb Talk Guy.
Jeff Gordon is one of the most legendary athletes in NASCAR, but there’s one element of Jeff’s personal life that is nowhere near as glamorous or successful as his career on the track and that’s his first marriage. From cheating scandals to crazy demands in court. Jeff’s divorce from his first wife was unbelievably messy.
While his 25-year career hardly has any blemishes, Jeff’s 7-year marriage to Brooke Sealey crashed and burned into a fiery mess. Brooke wasn’t just some random nobody when she linked up with Jeff. She was Miss Winston, a model who represented NASCAR’s series sponsor at the time.
In 1993, when Jeff was beginning to make a real name for himself in the sport, he won Winston Cup Series Rookie of the Year driving his iconic number 24 car. He went on to win two qualifying races for the Daytona 500, which seriously raised his profile in the sport and everyone started to take notice. And Brooke was one of those people.
Brooke Sealey
She was a Winston Cup model who welcomed Jeff into the victory lane and before too long, the two of them got together. Still, they kept their romance under wraps, they knew that there could be a lot of media scrutiny on them. But more significantly, there was a rule forbidding NASCAR drivers from dating Winston models. They couldn’t be seen together as a couple and were constantly sneaking around so that neither of them would get in trouble.
Even though, realistically, Brooke would be the only person to face serious consequences, since she was significantly more replaceable than Jeff. In a Sports Illustrated interview in 1995, Jeff even bragged that he had become a master at sneaking in and out of hotels thanks to his secret relationship.
Wedding Bells
In 1994, they finally got married. After Brooke’s time as a Winston girl came to a close, and they no longer had to sneak around, Jeff and Brooke revealed themselves to be the hottest couple in NASCAR.It seemed like things were going great for the newlyweds. Everything seemed like it was going great for Jeff and Brooke,
Until Brooke filed for divorce seemingly out of nowhere in 2002. Only the public was about to learn that this was far from a random event.
Allegations of Infidelity
The reason for divorce was stated at the time as irretrievably broken as a result of husband’s marital misconduct. Usually, couples just list something like irreconcilable differences, but Brooke wanted the whole world to know what happened.It’s even worse because Jeff famously protected his squeaky clean image. Without that, he wouldn’t have all his lucrative brand endorsements.
Divorce Demands
Brooke’s demands during the divorce settlement blew people’s minds when they became public. She demanded to have an airplane, use of the couple’s boats, two cars, and an alimony payment on top of that. Brooke’s demands seemed so excessive that the media even labeled her Crook Gordon.
Even though it seemed like the divorce was Jeff’s fault due to infidelity, the outrageous demands made by Brooke’s divorce attorneys had people supporting him. And Brooke’s questionable behavior around the divorce extended far beyond the courtroom. The messy divorce dragged on for over 16 months before it was finalized on June 13th, 2003.
The 10 Year Divorce
Almost 10 years after they met on the track, Brooke and Jeff were finally going their separate ways. By the time all was said and done, Brooke received a whopping $15.3 million. The division of their assets wasn’t publicly disclosed, but you can make an educated guess that she probably got a good chunk of what she was after.
Brooke seems to have gotten what she wanted, and both she and Jeff have gone on to have other marriages. Jeff married Belgian model and actress Ingrid Vandebosch in 2006 and Brooke married twice. First to James Dixon and then to Mullins McLeod. But when her marriage to James didn’t work out, James was the one looking for alimony payments and he got them from Brooke to the tune of $10,000 a month, a $1.5 million house, and an expensive Mercedes Benz.