- - “Sports Illustrated Swimsuit” Stars Reveal Surprising Secrets from Photo Shoot Set: 'Crazy Things Happen' (Exclusive)

Skyler Caruso, Lindsay Kimble, Alex RossFebruary 15, 2026 at 9:00 AM

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Xandra Pohl (left), Livvy Dunne (center), Brittany Mahomes (right).

Christopher Polk/Billboard via Getty; Anna Webber/Getty; Gotham/FilmMagic

It's not all sunshine and rainbows!

The iconic pages of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit transport 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 of SI Swimsuit, which released its February digital issue three days before the 2026 Super Bowl on Feb. 8. They shared little-known secrets from set that might just surprise you.

Livvy Dunne attends 2026 Madden Bowl during Super Bowl week in San Francisco on Feb. 6, 2026.

Jesse Grant/Getty

Livvy Dunne, who made her SI Swim debut in 2023 and most recently covered the 2025 SI Swim issue, 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.

Xandra arrives at "Sports Illustrated: The Party" ahead of the Super Bowl on Feb. 8, 2026.

Miikka Skaffari/Getty

"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 shares BTS video of herself on set of Sports Illustrated cover shoot.

Brittany Mahomes/Instagram

Surely, readers are likely wondering if the SI Swimsuit models 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."

Dunne, who's in a relationship with MLB star Paul 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 TikToker Xandra 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 the SI 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-time SI Swimsuit model, 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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Patrick Mahomes celebrates wife Brittany Mahomes on the cover of "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit" February digital issue ahead of the 2026 Super Bowl.

Courtesy Authentic Brands Group

"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 at Sports 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 at the intimate Sports Illustrated Swimsuit launch party to celebrate the WAG-centric cover of February's digital issue. Stars included Brittany Mahomes, Ronika Love, Christen Goff, Claire Kittle, Haley Cavinder and Normani.

The wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who was joined by the Super Bowl champion himself at the San Francisco soirée on Feb. 5, recently exposed a few secrets from set on her Instagram after the shoot shot in Fort Meyers, Fla.

Livvy Dunne at the 2025 MTV Awards.

Gilbert Flores/Billboard via Getty

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.

on People

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”