Christie Brinkley has revealed that being on the cover of Sports Illustrated at the age of 21 made her feel self-conscious about wearing a swimsuit “in front of people” because she felt she “had to live up to people’s expectations.” .
The supermodel, who turned 70 in February, made her first appearance in Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue back in 1975 and four years later appeared on three consecutive covers in 1979, 1980 and 1981.
During an appearance on Today with Hoda & Jenna on Tuesday, Christie talked about the effect it had on her all those years ago and how she even perfected a ‘routine’ to make sure people didn’t see her in a swimsuit. when she was on vacation.
‘After doing Sports Illustrated, I didn’t want to be in a swimsuit in front of people because they perfect you and real life is real life, and I felt like I had to live up to people’s expectations but it’s impossible, what? You know? ‘ She explained.
‘I actually had a routine, I had everything… the towel around my hips and legs, I was tender in that area, you know? And she would drop him at the last second. I’d plan my exit so someone would bring me a towel, that’s silly.’
Christie Brinkley has opened up about why she didn’t want to be seen in a swimsuit after modeling for Sports Illustrated.
The supermodel first appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine in February 1979.
The mother of three continued: “That’s something that gets pushed aside when you turn 70, it’s like, ‘why am I trying to please everyone?'”
‘At 70 years old, there is nothing to fear. It’s really an amazing time because you don’t really care what other people think about you, you just have fun (and) go about your day, I’m really enjoying it.”
Christie added: ‘I think we think people look at us more than they really do. You could walk out with a piece of scrambled egg on your chin and it would be half a day before anyone mentioned it!’ which made Hoda, 59, and Jenna, 42, burst out laughing.
When Hoda, a mother of two, brought up the fact that women “don’t get seen as you get older,” Christie agreed with her and responded, “Absolutely, it’s true.” You notice that things start to change and you start to disappear slightly.
“I think it’s up to us and our generation to change that because a lot of women my age are taking on new jobs, new careers, having exciting careers, something they’ve always wanted to do… and I think that changes the perception of the number as well.
“We can’t let numbers define us, and our generation is definitely changing that,” the glamorous star added.
Christie also opened up about her fear of cancer for the first time during her appearance on Today, revealing that her daughter’s dermatologist contracted it by chance.
‘I didn’t even have an appointment for a check-up, I was accompanying my daughter to the dermatologist,’ the model explained.
The 70-year-old said she used to have a “routine” to make sure other people didn’t see her in a swimsuit when she was younger.
“I was in the room and he had a little magnifying glass and he was looking at a couple of things that she was worried about,” Brinkley said.
“I thought, ‘There’s that little dot right here on the side of my head… Should I say something?’ “It’s not my date.”
‘Right at the end… I said, “Before you put that away, do you think you could just look at this?”‘
Then the doctor said, “We have to do a biopsy immediately. This is something.” Then the biopsy came back as cancer,’ he said.
Christie first revealed in March via Instagram that doctors had found basal cell carcinoma, one of the most common types of skin cancer, on the upper left side of her face.
“They took care of it and luckily my hair grows in that direction, but the scar is barely noticeable,” she said at the time.
