Tiegs was born in Breckenridge, Minnesota but raised in Alhambra, California, and she graduated from Alhambra High School in 1965. She also attended the California State University, Los Angeles and became a little sister to the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. By the time she was 17 years old, she appeared on the cover of Glamour magazine. Other covers followed, including Harper's Bazaar, ELLE, Time, and Vogue. She is best known for her long-running affiliation with the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, which featured her on the cover in 1970, 1975, and 1983. The 1978 poster of her in a pink bikini became an iconic 1970s pop culture image.
While posing for the 1978 swimsuit issue, she took a quick dip in the water on the beach wearing a white cotton fishnet swimsuit. When she emerged from the water, photographers—professional and amateur—flocked to her and asked her to pose for an extended amount of time—about 50 minutes. She later said she claimed to have no idea why the photographers suddenly took such an interest in her, and didn't discover why until she saw the final prints from the shoot: when wet, the suit was almost completely translucent.
Tiegs has resumed modeling, and is appearing in the HGTV series Living With Ed and has an accessory and wig line for Revlon. She is a judge on the new ABC series True Beauty that premiered on January 5, 2009. Cheryl is also a spokesperson for Cambria, the only manufacturer of natural quartz surfaces in America.
