Cheryl Tiegs Once Clashed With Another Model Over Health Advice From Dr. Oz

If you were a teen in the '70s, you couldn't open a magazine without seeing Cheryl Tiegs, whether she's on the cover or in an ad for Cover Girl. The model's simple beauty was the perfect match for the fresh-faced natural aesthetic the company promoted. Today, Tiegs still looks great, but she once had to eat a large serving of crow for criticizing another model's appearance. 

Back in 2016, Sports Illustrated featured plus-size model Ashley Graham on the cover of its famous swimsuit issue. The landmark decision was widely applauded, but not by Tiegs. In fact, she voiced her opinion to E! News at a pre-Oscars event and dragged another famous figure into the conversation. Criticizing the magazine for "glamorizing" what she called "full-figured" women, Tiegs stated, "[Y]our waist should be smaller than 35 [inches]. That's what Dr. Oz said, and I'm sticking to it." She insisted, "No, I don't think it's healthy. [Graham's] face is beautiful. Beautiful. But I don't think it's healthy in the long run."

Tiegs got such a negative response to her remark that she wrote up a quick mea culpa on X the next day: "My apologies to everyone I have hurt. I just want everyone to be healthy and happy." Some followers felt she didn't have anything to apologize for; as one wrote, "love you! You are right; when is size 16 a size to aspire to be[?]" Many more, however, thought the former Sears clothing designer didn't go far enough in acknowledging her harmful statements. "Your comments were unnecessary & the definition of skin-deep," scolded a respondent. "Promote health with positivity. Body shaming says more about you."

Despite his frequent advice to avoid obesity by eating sensibly, staying active, and even trying GLP-1 drugs with medical approval, Dr. Oz has never responded to Cheryl Tiegs' explosive statement about plus-sized models. When People contacted him for a quote after the fact, his reps declined. Ashley Graham, who sported an outstanding look at the GQ Awards just months after her Sports Illustrated cover, has been surprisingly gracious about it, though.

In a 2020 podcast appearance on Naomi Campbell's podcast, "No Filter with Naomi," the two supermodels recalled their first meeting years earlier at an award ceremony for fashion designers shortly after Tiegs' quote blew up. Without naming names — except to drop the first letter "C" — Graham said, "... there was another model who was so upset that I had gotten the cover, and she said that I was very large, like women my size should not be on the cover." She recalled that Campbell had defended her against the harsh comment, and Campbell interjected, "I don't think that person has the right to say that!" 

Rather than being bitter over Tiegs' judgmental moment, Graham views it as a springboard to greater understanding and inclusion. "Of course you're going to get negativity — we always are going to get negativity — but it brought up a great conversation of what is health, what is beauty, what is sexy, and what do men want to see," she told Campbell. 

Since that interview, Graham has gone on to develop a plus-size clothing line for JCPenney and a sparkling wine brand known as Lucci. In June 2026, she told Boardroom, "I've been fighting for so long for visibility and representation, and now is the time to just keep going." We're not sure if Tiegs would approve, but she's probably learned to stay quiet either way.