Chrissy Teigen Doesn't Care Who John Legend Dated Before Her

I’m struggling with whether or not to tell Chrissy Teigen her nipple is exposed.

Last night, she and her musician husband, John Legend, celebrated their anniversary—3 years married, 10 years together—over a fancy Italian dinner. And now, during her enthusiastic recap of the 100-layer lasagna, the open neck-line of her slip dress has gone from being a sexy suggestion to fully surrendering its borders.

But Chrissy’s on a roll. She tells me how she thinks anniversaries are weird and silly and how it’s impossible to shop for her multi-Grammy- award-winning other half (she wanted to put a bow on the couple’s 5-month- old daughter, Luna, and say, “You’re welcome!” but she didn’t even get around to doing that— she’s been too busy).

This past February, she released her first cookbook, Cravings, a collection of her fave recipes explained as only Chrissy can. “Chicken thighs make me happier than watching drunk chicks in a club bathroom,” she wrote. The book hit number one on the New York Times’ Best Sellers Advice, How-To, and Miscellaneous list. It’s remained a best seller ever since. Less than two months later, in April, the 30-year-old gave birth to her “little monster,” Luna, who’s currently set to teething mode and keeping her parents up at all hours. The family is in New York for Fashion Week, but tonight, Chrissy will return to L.A. to resume her duties as the cohost of Spike’s Lip Sync Battle. The show, now in its third season, is the most watched original series in network history.

So yeah, that nip slip? When I mention it, she bursts out laughing, then flashes me her whole boob from armpit to sternum.

This won’t be the only nudity during our lunch date. Over her second glass of rosé, Chrissy laments that there are no X-rated emoji. I confess that on my phone, I keep a ran
dom internet picture of a penis
shoved into a woman’s sandal
to text to friends when I need a
laugh. I pull up the image. “Are
 you kidding?” she exclaims. 
“That’s in my phone! I’ll send it
and be like, ‘Do you like these [shoes] with my outfit?’”

I consider this matching dick pic hard evidence (see what I did there?) that the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition cover star and I are, in fact, twin spirits. But Chrissy’s followers— 8.5 million on Instagram, more than 2.8 million on Twitter, and countless on Snap—no doubt feel the same way. Online, as she is in person, Chrissy is self-effacing and wickedly funny. She mocks her own celebrity and takes shots at others. Being so candid has its drawbacks though. She balks at the mention of her huge Twitter balls. “All I do is read comments, and it’ll ruin my day,” she says. “I’m always on edge that people are mad at me. There were things I didn’t care about a few years ago that now I’m like, Maybe I do look like a pug?” A few weeks after we meet, Chrissy set her Twitter account to private, stating, “My body and mind cannot handle it anymore.” As of press time, new followers required her approval. It’s a bummer. Still, Chrissy will not be silenced (nor contained). Listen in.

CHRISSY: Is that Mike from Shahs?

COSMO: Wait, what? I looked up and thought that was Mike from Shahs of Sunset. I just assume everyone is a Bravo celeb.

You and John love Bravo—most guys flee from the sound of screaming Housewives.

He’s fascinated by it. Lisa Vanderpump is John’s favorite woman on the planet. My brother-in-law is also obsessed, so we went to [Lisa’s restaurant] SUR in L.A. You know how people give celebrities their phone and are like, “Can you say hi to my mom?” I’ve never done that, but I did it with Lisa: “Can you say hi to John, please?” He thinks she’s beautiful. I’m like, This is your type?

Do you know John’s full history with women?

Oh yeah. Everybody. Even the embarrassing ones. Maybe a year into our relationship, he goes, “Have you ever been with any celebrities?” I was like, “I have not.” He wouldn’t have cared. He was curious. Then I made the mistake of asking him back. It was people I love! People I run into all the time. I was like, “I wish I had a story to get back at you!”

Who was it?

He was with a bunch of models. I didn’t know it, but John used to be a notorious modelizer. To me, he was the sweetest teddy bear. What’s funny is that I get along with everyone he’s ever been with. I end up really liking them. After I see them, I’ll tell him, “Oh, I was on-set with your ex today—it was fun!” He’s always surprised. It was before me, so it’s fine.

Some guys are really attracted to pregnant women.

Was John into the bump? He loved it. Our first trip to Lake Como, this Italian woman walked by in a tiny bikini and had the biggest pregnant belly. That’s the only time I’ve seen John look at another woman. He was like, “That is so beautiful.” So I knew when I was pregnant, he’d be very excited.

Did he watch the birth?

No! I had heard all these stories of women pooping [during labor]. John and I are open books, but I have never gone to the bathroom in front of him. He’s not like, “Women shouldn’t do that!” He’s fine with it. He’ll be on his laptop on the toilet. It’s always been my weird thing. I was induced, lying there for 24 hours. Then I pushed for 30 minutes or so. I could have done it in, like, a minute if I’d just stopped caring about that! My doctor said, “I can tell you’re holding back.” John was, like, DJing in the corner, pretending not to care. Do you have kids?

I don’t, but I’m told it does a real number on your vagina....

Oh, it was filthy. Everything is good now. But I would be pregnant for 10 years straight to not have the one month after giving birth. When I was six months pregnant, Brooklyn Decker sent me this box of supplies. Everything had a Post-it that said things like, “Use six days after you give birth....” I texted her, “A lot of this stuff is about the vagina!” I thought it would be mostly for the baby. She was like, “Trust me.” And sure enough....You don’t think about the ripping. When you’re holding your baby, you don’t realize they’re sewing you up. I couldn’t feel anything. And there’s this thing called the Daddy Stitch—they do an extra one for Daddy. I was like, What’s happening?!

How long before you had sex again?

They say six weeks, right? I can’t remember, but we pretty much bounced right back.
 As if nothing had happened? No, it took us a few weeks to feel normal. I was definitely a bit worried. You wonder if you’ll ever feel comfortable. You’re like, “Oh my gosh, it hurts! Am I ever going to enjoy this again?” But then one day, you do.
 What’s your bedtime ritual? Most of the time, we sleep naked. We are very much hardcore embracers. Him especially. He loves to cuddle.


You two seem so in sync. Please say there’s something you fight about....

Scheduling. John is very scheduled. I don’t like to know what I’m doing until the day of or night before. I get frustrated because he’ll say, “It’s on the calendar.” I’m like, “Okay, I have Google calendar, but I thought my husband would tell me.” Then he’s like, “I did. You just don’t remember.” And we fight more if we’re apart because I don’t talk on the phone. I hate it.

How do your fights usually shake out?

He’s incredibly patient. He apologizes for things he doesn’t have to apologize for, and I don’t get mad for long. We fought a lot more when I wasn’t working as much. I was the one left at home and worried about him going to after-parties. He would be tagged in photos, and I’d be like, “Who is that girl?” Just jealous. But then, he doesn’t even enjoy those after-parties!

You spent all of your 20s with John. Ever feel like you were missing out?

I definitely raged from like 18 to 20 in L.A. By 21, I was pretty much over the party scene and ready for a change. I’m so glad I got it out of my system. I’ve seen everything.

Ever think it wasn’t going to last?

Early on in the relationship, I was on tour with him and he’d gotten sick. He was feeling really bummed and stressed out. He was like, “I can’t be in a relationship right now.” That lasted for one day. Literally, a day. I knew it came from a place other than us not working. It was the stress of him having to maybe cancel a show, and he had never been in a real relationship—or so he says now. I always joke, “Remember when you tried to break up with me?” He’s like, “Yes, sorry. Big mistake.”

Styling by fashion editor James Worthington DeMolet.

For more of Chrissy Teigen's exclusive interview and photo shoot with Cosmopolitan, pick up the December 2016 issue on newsstands Nov. 8 or click here to subscribe to the digital edition!