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It's not all sunshine and rainbows!
The iconic pages ofSports Illustrated Swimsuittransport its readers to a dreamy oasis that typically involves white sandy beaches, sunshine-filled skies and bikini-wearing beauties on each — but the final product doesn't always tell the full story.
PEOPLE caught up with some of the models who've appeared on the cover or within the pages ofSI Swimsuit, which released itsFebruary digital issuethree days before the 2026 Super Bowl on Feb. 8. They shared little-known secrets from set that might just surprise you.
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Livvy Dunne, who made herSI Swimdebut in 2023and most recently covered the2025SI Swimissue, opened up to PEOPLE at the Ritz-Carlton in San Francisco on Feb. 7 about the "crazy" and "weird" happenings that have taken place during shoots.
"I feel like one thing that's kind of crazy is that it can be really cold and they make it look like it's the sunniest day outside and it could be cold or cloudy," the accomplished gymnast, 23, revealed, but emphasized, "Somehow the pictures still turn out amazing."
Despite wearing a bathing suit and often posing in the ocean, the models are shooting for a top magazine! That means a full glam squad is on site to ensure everyone is camera-ready, but in the most natural-looking way.
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"I think it's kind of weird having a swimsuit on with a full face of makeup," the former LSU gymnastics star admitted. It just doesn't feel normal, but the pictures come out phenomenal and it's like a natural look. So, it ends up looking great on camera."
For Dunne's cover, she's seen sporting an asymmetrical zebra-print bikini on the beaches of Bermuda. She's kneeling in the shallow waters and even positioning herself into a backbend in others — poses that are quite tame compared to other models' risky sets.
"I think that a lot of crazy things happen during the shoots, whether it's someone standing on rocks in the ocean and they fall off... I've heard some crazy stories," she said. "Thank goodness they haven't happened to me."The standout gymnast joked: "I think my balance is a little bit better than that, but I hope nothing like that happens!"
Brittany Mahomes/Instagram
Surely, readers are likely wondering if theSI Swimsuitmodels get to keep their suits after the shoot! Thanks to Dunne, now we know!
"I got to keep two," she revealed. "I got to keep my first year, my Gucci swimsuit that I got to shoot in, which was so exciting. — and then I think my second year. But honestly, the best thing you can get from a photo shoot is the cover — so that's what I got last year."
She revealed, "The most pinch-me moment was getting the cover. I cried. I almost fell out of my chair. There are just so many iconic women that have been on the covers before me, so to be able to be one of them is crazy."
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Dunne, who's in a relationship with MLB starPaul Skenes, also noted how she didn't know she got the cover until after the shoot. That's a typical process, she shared.
DJ and TikTokerXandra Pohl, who has 1.3 million followers and is known for her viral "get ready with me videos" and vlogs, also spoke with PEOPLE about a set secret. She was named one of theSI Swim's 2024 rookies and was featured again in the magazine's 2025 issue.
Pohl, 25, who's posed beside the crystal-clear waters in Jamaica and Belize as a two-timeSI Swimsuitmodel, shared a behind-the-scenes tidbit about the makeshift wardrobe set-ups in the beachy towns... that aren't so private.
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"The past couple years, I've been in a town, and so I'm literally changing in a pop-up tent," she told PEOPLE exclusively atSports Illustrated: The Party red carpet on Feb. 7. "There's people watching everywhere!"
She continued, "They're like, 'What are you guys doing? What are you guys shooting for?' And everyone [on staff] is like, 'Nothing! We're shooting for nothing!' But yeah, there's always at least 10 to 15 people watching you at all times. Random people, strangers."
During Super Bowl week, PEOPLE had an inside look atthe intimateSports Illustrated Swimsuitlaunch partyto celebrate the WAG-centric cover of February's digital issue. Stars includedBrittany Mahomes,Ronika Love,Christen Goff,Claire Kittle,Haley CavinderandNormani.
The wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterbackPatrick Mahomes, who was joined by the Super Bowl champion himself at the San Francisco soirée on Feb. 5, recentlyexposed a few secrets from seton herInstagramafter the shoot shot in Fort Meyers, Fla.
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While the final product looked tropical and hot, the balmy temperatures synonymous with the "Sunshine State" was actually quite the opposite for Brittany, 30, who snapped photos in January one month before it was published.
Mahomes shared an Instagram Reel of herself bundling up in an oversize black jacket with her hair blowing in the strong sea breeze as she stands on the beach preparing to strip down into her bathing suit to get the shot.
"Oh my gosh," she mouths, visibly very cold. "I'm going to freeze," she says in a different clip of herself alongside Kittle and Goff from earlier in the day.
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