Former 'SI' Model Cheryl Tiegs Slams New Cover Star Ashley Graham for Her Size: 'I Don't Think It's Healthy'

Tiegs doesn't hold back in the interview, saying that your waist should be smaller than 35 inches

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Photo: Rob Latour/REX/Shutterstock;Alberto E. Rodriguez/WireImage

Cheryl Tiegs is not okay with Sports Illustrated‘s new cover star, the size-16 Ashley Graham.

“I don’t think it’s healthy,” the former SI Swimsuit Issue star told E! News.

“Her face is beautiful, beautiful. But I don’t think it’s healthy in the long run.”

Tiegs believes the rise of full-figured models is problematic because of the message it sends.

“I don’t like it that we’re talking about full-figured women because we’re glamorizing them, and your waist should be smaller than 35 [inches]. That’s what Dr. Oz said and I’m sticking to it.”

Graham made history Feb. 13 when she was named the first size-16 model to land the cover of SI, along with UFC fighter Ronda Rousey and two-time SI model Hailey Clauson.

“I thought Sports Illustrated was taking a risk by putting a girl my size in the pages,” Graham told PEOPLE after her cover reveal. “But putting me on the cover? They aren’t just breaking barriers; they are the standard now. This is beyond epic.”

And Twitter mostly reacted in kind, giving Graham and the magazine props for her groundbreaking cover.

Tiegs was a fan of Clauson’s SI spread, and posted one of her photos on Facebook with the caption, “I remember posting a picture of a beautiful swimsuit model on my refrigerator. It gave me the inspiration to have a thin, #healthy, strong body. #HaileyClauson #Motivation”

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