PIANO Man Billy Joel, a “Survivor” hunk and a sexy Long Island news reporter are locked in a bitter love triangle, The Post has learned.
Joel, who will be 52 this year, is angry and upset over the passionate relationship between reporter Trish Bergin, his former girlfriend, and “Survivor” star Dr. Sean Kenniff, a neurologist with a pierced left nipple.
Sources say a smitten Joel recently made a series of telephone calls to the beguiling television newsgal, calling for her to vote Sean off her personal island.
Joel and Bergin were hot and heavy for several months last year.
“Billy isn’t happy at all about Sean,” said a friend of Kenniff, medical correspondent for the troubled TV news magazine “Extra.”
“He has called Trish many times and talked to her about him.”
The Bronx-born Joel reportedly called Kenniff a “paskunyak” – Yiddish for a contemptible person.
But 31-year-old Trish, who was still figuring out how to use a sipper cup when Joel was an award-winning recording artist, is ignoring his pleas.
Joel blew his last chance at winning the delectable Trish back from Dr. Sean, according to one source. They were briefly reconciled last September, but then Trish turned up at Joel’s home unexpectedly and found the Piano Man in bed with an unidentified woman some 15 years older than her.
There was a brief confrontation, and Trish stormed out.
“Billy Joel has bombarded her with flowers and gifts of Dom Perignon, but she doesn’t want anything to do with him anymore,” said the source.
Trish was spotted by Post photographers on a dinner date with Dr. Sean at the astronomically overpriced Harry Cipriani last week. The tony Fifth Avenue eatery may have been chosen to send a message to the singer.
Bergin and Joel had enjoyed many memorable evenings there. Then, several weeks ago, Joel was spotted having lunch there with sexy actress Dina Meyer.
TRISH, from Ronkonkoma, L.I., started dating Joel last March. They had been set up by, of all people, Billy’s original Uptown Girl, ex-wife Christie Brinkley.
It was a difficult time for Joel. His relationship with Long Island artist Carolyn Beegan had ended. He had sold his 12-acre oceanfront home in East Hampton to Jerry Seinfeld for a reported $32 million, and was faced with leaving his beloved East End.
Brinkley, still concerned about her old flame, came up with the matchmaking scheme during an interview with Bergin.
Joel and Bergin knew each other because she had interviewed him several times. Brinkley knew that Joel found the newswoman attractive and that she was back in the “meet market” following a painful divorce.
Last year, Joel told The Post: “Christie called me up and said, ‘Did you know she’s not wearing a wedding ring?'”
Soon, bouquets of flowers began appearing at the News12 newsroom. The relationship became intense, and the pair spent a passionate summer of love.
Last summer, Joel and Trish shared some of their feelings for each other. Joel told the Post: “I have a hard time talking about it. Every time I talk too much about any kind of relationship I’m in, it puts a hex on it.”
And Trish said: “We have a really good time together, but it’s, like, wait and see.”
“They became very close very quickly,” said a mutual friend. “The relationship did wonders for Billy’s morale. It turned his summer around and got him out of the doldrums. Trish was a pick-me-up for him, a real tonic.
“But I think the relationship put Trish under a lot more pressure than she needed. It was intense and public, and she is very private. She doesn’t like the attention from the gossip columns.”
By September, the love affair appeared to have burned itself out.
Enter Dr. Sean.
UNTIL the CBS “Survivor” phenomenon made national figures of Richard Hatch, Rudy Boesch, Colleen Haskell and the other Survivors, Massapequa-born Dr. Sean had been chief resident of neurology at Long Island Jewish Medical Center.
He and Trish Bergin first met when she covered a breaking news story at the hospital, a story from which Sean emerged a hero. He was one of several doctors who kept the hospital running and saved lives during a potentially catastrophic blackout.
They did not see each other again until after Dr. Sean had been made famous by “Survivor.” She interviewed him again, and rumors started to circulate that they were dating.
In September, the two appeared in public for the first time, at a grand reopening bash at Studio 54. Bergin looked more beautiful than ever, and Dr. Sean looked like the cat who ate the canary.
They held hands and huddled together for most of the night at the front bar in a glittering crowd that included Matt Dillon, Kylie Bax and Russell Simmons.
By then, they had more in common than ever, since Dr. Sean had begun a new career as a TV newsman.
Even as Trish Bergin’s relationship with the castaway doctor intensified, she tried to reignite her love for Billy Joel. Just days after her cozy time with Kenniff, she was spotted canoodling with Joel at the Paradise cafe in Sag Harbor.
“After she started seeing Sean, Billy Joel began pursuing her,” claimed a friend of the doctor. “There were many calls from Billy Joel asking her to come back.
“Sean didn’t want to get into a feud with Billy Joel. He admires Billy Joel. But it did cause some friction with Trish. They broke up for a while over it. It’s pretty hard to compete with Billy Joel.”
Dr. Sean said he couldn’t comment about his relationship with Trish Bergin or Billy Joel’s feelings about it.
“I really can’t talk about this. It’s a personal matter. All I can tell you is that Trish and I are good friends,” he said.
A spokesperson at Columbia Records said the singer was not pursuing Bergin, who also declined to talk about her relationships.
“I really just prefer not to say anything about this,” she said.