Cheryl Tiegs Calls Her Iconic Sports Illustrated White Fishnet Swimsuit Photo a 'Throwaway Shot': 'Not My Favorite'

Two of the most memorable photographs of Cheryl Tieg in which she will appear Sports Illustrated’S Swimsuit Issue came about spontaneously.

The supermodel reveals in a new documentary Beyond the View: Jule Campbell Swimwear Edition which went into the 1978 photo shoot that produced the now iconic SI a shot of her wearing a white mesh swimsuit.

An upcoming documentary, premiering Nov. 17 at the DOC NYC Film Festival, details the progress Sports Illustrated’with the Swimsuit Issue, which launched in 1964, and the late editor behind the brand’s signature marquee, Jule Campbell, who died in 2022.

Tiegs, now 77, says in the document that the photo of her walking on a Brazilian beach in a striking one-piece that reveals her nipples was not planned.

Cheryl Tiegs in New York’s Studio 54 in 1978.

Oscar Abolafia/TPLP/Getty

“The white fishnet was a throwaway shot,” Tiegs says of the footage that sparked the public outcry.

Photographer Walter Iooss Jr. adding that it was “a picture you wouldn’t want to show anyone. It was filmed one miserable afternoon in the middle of nowhere in the Amazon.”

“It was terrible light,” Campbell says in a voiceover. “I went over to Cheryl, and because the light was bad, I said, ‘Would you please get wet?’ Because I thought we’d get some highlights if her skin was glowing.”

“It wasn’t ‘I’ll see more if the suit is wet,'” she adds.

Vintage StarTracks: This time in 1981, see Eddie Van Halen and Heart on stage, plus Jack Nicholson and more big stars

“Getting the suit wet is what made it so transparent,” says Tiegs. “Before it was just a bunch of cotton.”

“The simplicity that I think of the girl herself walking on the beach in a bathing suit like that was intriguing. I don’t know. I don’t know,” he adds. – It’s not my favorite shot.

Tiegs, Campbell and Iooss didn’t expect the photography to propel Tiegs to superstardom. “She wasn’t just a beautiful woman with visible breasts on the pages Sports Illustrated. She was a beautiful woman who Sports Illustrated readers felt like they knew,” Iooss says in the document. “That was Cheryl fucking Tiegs.”

Cheryl Tiegs circa 1980.

Robin Platzer/PICTURES/Getty

Tiegs also talks about his first cover for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, noting that the photo was not part of an official shoot. Tiegs first graced the cover of a special issue in 1970, when she was 22 years old.

The crew was on a boat heading home, and Campbell offered Tiegs a long-sleeved bathing suit when the model said she was cold.

“I put on my sunglasses. Jay Maisel took the picture. He said, ‘Take off your sunglasses. Take off your sunglasses.’ I said, ‘No, I’m tired. I don’t want to be photographed,’ Tiegs recalls.

However, he still photographed the young model relaxing in sunglasses and a long-sleeved swimsuit. “And they put that on the cover,” says Tiegs. “That was me, a real person. At that moment I was not a model.”

“I felt very comfortable that she was a female [in charge] because it’s a very vulnerable situation,” she says of Campbell. “I had the confidence and confidence to do what I had to do.”

Cheryl Tiegs apologizes to ‘everyone I hurt’ after Ashley Graham body shaming

Cheryl Tiegs on October 23, 2024 in Newport Beach, California.

Randy Shropshire/Getty

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Tiegs appeared in the issue nine times, and on the cover a total of three times, first in 1970, then in 1975 and 1983. In the issue with her “bare” white fishnet swimsuit, her memorable “pink bikini” was also featured.

Beyond the View: Jule Campbell Swimwear Edition is showing at DOC NYC on November 17th at 4:15pm and November 18th at 12:30pm at Village East by Angelika and will be available to stream online from November 18th through December 1st. Tickets can be purchased here.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education