Nicole Williams English Explains How Her “SI Swim” Cover Is a 'Full-Circle' Moment with Her 3-Year-Old Daughter (Exclusive)
Nicole Williams English Explains How Her “SI Swim” Cover Is a 'Full-Circle' Moment with Her 3-Year-Old Daughter (Exclusive)
Skyler CarusoThu, May 14, 2026 at 2:50 PM UTC
0
Nicole Williams English with her daughter, India Moon.
Credit: Nicole English Williams/Instagram
-
Nicole Williams English spoke with PEOPLE exclusively about landing her first-ever Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover in the 2026 issue of the magazine
The model explained how it's a "full-circle" moment for her both personally and professionally
This issue marks her fourth consecutive year gracing the pages of the magazine
Nicole Williams English is soaking in the moment.
The model, 41, speaks with PEOPLE exclusively about landing her first-ever Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover in the magazine's 2026 issue and why the honor is a "full-circle" moment in her personal and professional lives.
When reflecting on how she learned about the cover, Williams English — who welcomed her daughter, India Moon, with her husband Larry English in January 2023 — tells PEOPLE exclusively that her baby girl was by her side for the exciting reveal that unfolded in the kitchen of her home.
Nicole Williams English graces the cover of the 2026 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.
Credit: Ben Watts/Sports Illustrated
India being next to Williams English for the reveal was full-circle because the model was pregnant with her daughter when she walked the runway at Sports Illustrated Swimsuit's Miami Swim Week show in July 2022, where she revealed her baby bump in a bikini alongside her husband.
"I just started bawling my eyes out," recalls Williams English, who was named a 2023 SI Swimsuit rookie at the same time four years ago.
That's why the reveal was so special for the mother-daughter duo.
"I'm sitting with my daughter, the entire Sports Illustrated team and MJ [Day], the editor, and they all had these big huge signs of all my years that I've shot [SI Swimsuit]," shares Williams English. "This was my fourth year that I shot. And so they had one with me pregnant and then the other ones."
Nicole Williams English and her husband, Larry English, announce their pregnancy at the 2022 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit's runway show during Miami Swim Week.
Credit: Michele Eve Sandberg/Shutterstock
— sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Advertisement
"I told them I've never been that surprised where I've had not an inkling of an idea that this could be happening right now, and so it was the biggest surprise, such a big goal," she continues. "I've been dreaming of that moment for as long as I can remember."
India has been a part of Williams English's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit journey since the very beginning, which is what makes the milestone even more meaningful to the model.
"It means so much to me," she tells PEOPLE. "It's such a great story. I worked so hard to get here and I wanted this so many years ago, but now I'm at the point in my life where I'm 42, I know who I am. I'm happily married, I have a daughter, and I have more meaning."
"When I look back and saw how much of a struggle it was for me to climb to the top where I'm at now, everything means more now to me," Williams English says. "It's just so much more meaningful and I have so much more to celebrate, so I'm just so excited."
Nicole Williams English and her daughter, India Moon.
Credit: Nicole Williams English/Instagram
This year, Williams English — who was one of the four cover stars along with Alix Earle, Tiffany Haddish and Hilary Duff — posed powerfully in a mint green bikini for her summery shoot by Ben Watts on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean at the Hero Beach Club in Montauk, N.Y.
Year after year, Williams English has exuded nothing but confidence and powerful energy from the start.
"Shooting on the beaches of Dominica while eight months pregnant felt surreal," she told PEOPLE exclusively at the time.
"I've wanted to be a Sports Illustrated Rookie my entire career, so when I received the call that I was the first Rookie of 2023 and they also wanted to shoot me pregnant was the ultimate dream come true," she added. "I cried a lot!"
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
