Christie Brinkley reflected on her years modeling for Sports Illustrated, including her most recent appearance in the iconic magazine at age 70.
Brinkley, who made her Sports Illustrated debut in 1975, gushed over her love for how the magazine has evolved over the years on TODAY on May 28.
“Sports Illustrated is has really turned into the most amazing magazine. It’s always been great and amazing, but to be there, this time, having just turned 70 … 70 is one of those birthday milestones, where you look back and you look forward and you really sum everything up and you get all emotional,” she said. “I felt like, I’m 70 and they’ve asked me to come be on another cover.”
Brinkley cheekily made fun of her outfit in the magazine’s 2024 issue, where she wore a long-sleeve silver floor-length gown to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the magazine.
“Yes, I was covered from my wrist to my ankles, but still, they’re inclusive,” she said. “I know what that means, to start to feel invisible, like you don’t have the same thing happening as you get older … It’s really nice to to be included.”
The 70-year-old was among legends like Chrissy Teigen, Hunter McGrady, Kate Upton, Gayle King and more, who graced multiple covers in honor of the Sports Illustrated 60th anniversary issue.
Brinkley appeared on three consecutive Sports Illustrated covers from 1979 to 1981 — the first model to have completed the feat — and has since participated in shoots celebrating the 40th and 50th anniversaries of the magazine.
The mom of three also spoke about how turning 70 changed her outlook on self-love.
“I am always happy, but when I was younger, I was probably my harshest critic,” she explained. “And I think I was trying to live up to expectations of what they would think.”
“For instance, I after I did Sports Illustrated, I never felt comfortable on the beach again in a bathing suit because Sports Illustrated makes you look so good,” she added. “They put you in the bathing suit that they’ve chosen out of like a thousand bathing suits because it looks best on you. They put you in the best light, you take your very best angle and you twist and I would have to walk down the beach like, sucking it in, to try to look halfway decent.”
Brinkley summarized: “Then when I turned 70, I was like, ‘Who am I trying to live up to? Whose expectations? It’s my life.'”
Earlier this year, Brinkley announced had been treated for skin cancer, and spoke with TODAY’s Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb about the coincidence at her daughter’s doctor’s appointment that led to her diagnosis.
“I wasn’t even scheduled for a checkup,” Brinkley recalled. “I was actually accompanying my daughter to the dermatologist and I was in the room and and he had this little magnifying glass out and he’s looking at a couple of things that she was worried about.”
Brinkley said she knew she had a little spot on the side of her head, and at first she thought about not saying anything because it wasn’t her appointment, but at the last second she asked for the doctor to look at the spot.
“He looked and he goes, ‘We’ve got to do a biopsy immediately. This is something.’ And then the biopsy came back cancer,” she said.
Brinkley said she had an amazing surgeon and plastic surgeon, and emphasized the importance of wearing sunscreen and a hat, and getting a skin cancer screening as summer approaches.
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