20 Questions: Cheryl Tiegs

The following short interview was conducted by frequent Playboy contributor John Hughes, who has known Cheryl Tiegs for three years. He reports: "We talked in the morning in her suite at New York's Sherry-Netherland. Cheryl had just showered and was fresh, bright and scrubbed. She sat hunched over, with her elbows on her knees, gestured frequently with her hands, smiled a great deal and answered most of my questions quickly and impulsively. I found her to be a warm, intelligent woman who is so beautiful that I'm sure she could stop an elephant's heart at 30 paces."

[Q] 1. Playboy: On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your looks?

[A] Tiegs: Compared with everybody else in the world, I'd have to say ten. People would kill me if I said an eight or a six or a two. By my own standards—oh, eight or nine. My ears stick out, but I hide that.

[Q] 2. Playboy: If it were 1943, would you want your likeness on the nose of a B-17?

[A] Tiegs: Yes, yes. Because it would have given them something to dream of. And I like my image and so, therefore, I would like for them to dream of me. Part of my popularity is that I'm a real person, and I really don't have a cold exterior, I have a warmth. So I think that people want an image to look up to that is real, that is not untouchable.

[Q] 3. Playboy: There's an old myth that beautiful girls have ugly girls for best friends. Do you?

[A] Tiegs: No, I have beautiful best friends. One is a model, one's in the fashion business. I like beauty, but beauty doesn't have to be physical beauty. I don't just have pretty girls as friends, but I don't have ugly people as friends.

[Q] 4. Playboy: What was your first modeling job?

[A] Tiegs: I tried out for little beauty pageants and never won. My best friend, who was prettier and more charming than I, was always winning.

[Q] 5. Playboy: Do you wear protective gear when you perform hazardous household chores?

[A] Tiegs: I've never done a household chore in my life.

[Q] 6. Playboy: Do you own a Cheryl Tiegs doll?

[A] Tiegs: So many people have told me that I should have one made, but I haven't pursued it. I don't know if I want that. It's very dehumanizing to be a doll. And I think that I've just spent the last 14 years being a mannequin, so I don't want that image anymore.

[Q] 7. Playboy: Was there some pivotal decision that you made that really boosted your career to the top?

[A] Tiegs: When I decided to do a poster. All my fan letters were from boys in high school and college asking for posters. So it was my idea, but I was discouraged by an agent who said I'd only get ten percent, etc., etc. So I forgot about it for a couple of weeks and I thought, Well, I'm going to do it anyway. So I did it.

[Q] 8. Playboy: In the Time cover story, you appeared in a see-through fish-net bathing suit. Did you know it was see-through beforehand?

[A] Tiegs: No, because I tried it on in the dressing room and when it's dry, you can't see through it. I've taken many a picture in fish net before and you can't see through it. We were in the Amazon and there was no way that I was going to go into the water with the crocodiles and piranhas. So I thought, OK, I'll wear the suit. Well, it was sunset and the light was so bad and the photographer said, "Please go in," and I had never seen a suit wet before and then it was published and you could see through it. There's no excuse. I'm not trying to say, "Oh, my God, I didn't know that you could see through it." To me, it wasn't that bad, but they got a lot of letters from it. Americans are such puritans. Nudity is not that bad, and it wasn't nude and there was nothing provocative about it. Even if I had known that you could see through it, maybe I would have done it anyway.

[Q] 9. Playboy: Your image is that of the all-American girl. Are you happy about it?

[A] Tiegs: Yeah. I happen to be a lover of America. I did this cheerleading special, I was one of the judges, and all of a sudden, I had tears in my eyes and I was beaming. I mean, these beautiful kids did their cheerleading and it was just so all-American—they were so clean-cut and so beautiful. And I thought, If you did that in some foreign country, it just wouldn't be the same. I really like America. America is very healthy. The all-American image? Yeah, I like it.

[Q] 10. Playboy: Would you like to sing at the White House?

[A] Tiegs: Nobody's invited me. I can't sing or dance.

[Q] 11. Playboy: For whom did you vote in the last two Presidential elections?

[A] Tiegs: I voted for Carter the last time and I was out of the country before that.

[Q] 12. Playboy: Who were your childhood heroes?

[A] Tiegs: I liked Pat Boone. He was so clean-cut and all-American. Everybody else was crazy about Elvis Presley.

[Q] 13. Playboy: You weren't an Elvis fan?

[A] Tiegs: Not as much. At that time, Elvis was the bad guy and Pat Boone was the good guy. You know, black and white. I had a crush on Pat Boone.

[Q] 14. Playboy: Were you ever a brownie?

[A] Tiegs: Yes, a brownie, then a girl scout.

[Q] 15. Playboy: Were you a good brownie and a good girl scout?

[A] Tiegs: Oh, of course. I was always a good girl. Not always, but.... Yes, I was. I was very shy, but I was always very popular. I was always the tallest girl in the class and that made me very shy. I would slump down a little bit. But I was never an ugly duckling. I was never really ugly and suddenly blossomed. I was always sort of pretty. Although I always wanted to be five feet, one.

[Q] 16. Playboy: Has any man ever stood you up or dumped you?

[A] Tiegs: There was one boy in college I was crazy about, but he wasn't so interested in me. We dated and we saw each other, but I never really snagged him. But other than that, it's a pretty good record.

[Q] 17. Playboy: Did you go to your high school prom?

[A] Tiegs: Everybody always went to two or three proms in high school. I only went the last year. I wasn't invited the other years. I went the last year and I was prom princess and my best friend got prom queen.

[Q] 18. Playboy: Do you throw things when you get mad?

[A] Tiegs: If I'm really angry at my husband, I'll hit him in the arm or something like that. I don't throw things at walls. I'll throw a pillow at him or something. I'm always controlled. I wouldn't throw a tennis racket at him or a knife or anything like that. But I get angry enough that I hit things.

[Q] 19. Playboy: Are you always as graceful as you appear to be?

[A] Tiegs: I spill everything. Every time I eat, whatever I eat, I spill.

[Q] 20. Playboy: One last question: Will you marry me?

[A] Tiegs: No.