How Nicole Williams English Hopes Posing for SI Swimsuit at Seven Months Pregnant Will Inspire Others

The 2023 rookie is the second visibly pregnant model to pose for the publication.

Cara O’Bleness | May 10, 2023

Nicole Williams English is a model, entrepreneur and designer, as well as a new mom and a 2023 SI Swimsuit rookie. She and her husband, former NFL player Larry English, welcomed daughter India Moon in January. While the Toronto native says she’s been manifesting the opportunity of posing for SI Swimsuit for 20 long years, she never imagined she’d be making her dreams come true while seven months pregnant. The happy couple’s journey to becoming a family of three was not an easy one, but due to Williams English’s openness and candor, it has certainly been an inspirational story.

Nicole Williams English was photographed by Yu Tsai in Dominica. Swimsuit by Andi Bagus.
Yu Tsai/Sports Illusrtated

“While we’ve already revealed Nicole Williams English on our runway during Swim Week with a rookie announcement and pregnancy announcement, we are excited to finally share her photos for the 2023 issue,” says SI Swimsuit editor in chief MJ Day. “We are even more honored that she chose us to celebrate her pregnancy journey— shooting for the issue seven months pregnant and then stepping back in front of the lens with 6-week-old India Moon, her beautiful daughter and our youngest most precious model to date. There’s power in sharing such an intimate life moment and we are beyond grateful to be a part of that with Nicole.”

The long road to motherhood

The couple initially met at a mutual friend’s birthday party in 2011 and got engaged in fall of ’16. They tied the knot less than a year later in Laguna Beach, Calif. After deciding to start a family, Williams English began IVF treatments in early 2021.

While the first cycle initially produced 14 healthy eggs, when all was said and done, the couple were left with only one viable embryo. Williams English previously told SI Swimsuit that, at that point, she and Larry decided to step back from getting pregnant for about a year. After going through the process again with a new doctor, another egg retrieval produced the same number of eggs, but more viable embryos.

“The doctor called us and we got six healthy embryos. It was the happiest moment. I'll never forget it,” Williams English shared at the time. “And we got half boys, half girls, exactly.”

Despite the ups and downs, she deemed the IVF process “so worth it in the end.”

Announcing her pregnancy with SI Swimsuit

After being named SI Swimsuit’s first rookie for the 2023 issue, the duo announced their long-awaited pregnancy in the most epic way possible last July: by strutting the runway together during Miami Swim Week.

*Larry English and Nicole Williams English walk the runway for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit runway show during Paraiso Miami Beach.*
John Parra/Getty Images for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit

Williams English donned a black bikini and a sparkly cover-up tied around her middle as she walked down the runway. Toward the end, she grabbed her husband’s hand. When the two reached the end, English untied her wrap to reveal a baby bump, which Williams English sweetly cradled while grinning from ear-to-ear. English then kissed his wife’s stomach and the two shared a sweet smooch before Williams English fully removed the cover-up and they made their exit.

“To be able to now be a rookie and to also surprise everybody with my pregnancy, it’s just a double whammy for me,” she told SI Swimsuit last summer. “It’s the two most unreal things I could have ever dreamed of.”

Posing for SI Swimsuit while pregnant

Williams English traveled to Dominica late last year—two months before welcoming her daughter—to pose for photographer Yu Tsai for the 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue.

“The fact that I’m actually a rookie and shooting while pregnant, it’s just really cool to know that my baby girl is going through this with me and that one day she’s gonna look back and see all these photos and know that she was shooting for SI with mama,” Williams English says.

She stresses just how sweet the experience was since she got to share it with her daughter. While Williams English was filled with nervous excitement on set, she says working with Yu Tsai, editor in chief MJ Day and the rest of the SI Swimsuit team was an absolute dream.

As the founder and designer of Nia Lynn by Nicole Williams English, a line of luxury swimwear, she’s no stranger to stylish beachwear on set or in her everyday life. But when it came to maternity style throughout her pregnancy, Williams English didn’t stray too far from her typical vibe. She says she gravitated toward baggy jeans and crop tops to bare her bump with pride.

How she hopes to inspire others

As a teenager, Williams English idolized SI Swimsuit models like Tyra Banks and Heidi Klum, and even had a casting call with the franchise six years ago. Since posing for the magazine had been a lifelong goal, Williams English hopes her perseverance will serve as an inspiration to her daughter to chase her own aspirations.

“I hope that I can inspire people and show a part of me, especially being pregnant doing this,” she says. “To be able to show my daughter this and to be able to tell her the story of how I got here and how hard I worked to get here and how this was my biggest dream and my biggest goal and to tell her to chase her dreams and never give up, this is just so special.”

Nicole Williams English and India Moon. Dress by Zimmermann.
Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Looking toward the future

For now, Williams English and her husband are relishing the precious moments with their daughter while occasionally sharing sweet snippets from their life as new parents.

“I have so many things to be grateful for. I’m grateful for a healthy baby. The fact that I could be [on location in Dominica] at seven months pregnant and shoot this beautiful shoot with SI and just to be able to see myself just, you know, truly being me,” Williams English says. “I’m just so proud of how far I've come and these pictures are really gonna represent that.”

*Nicole Williams English and India Moon.* Top by LESET.
Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

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Published May 10, 2023

CARA O’BLENESS

Cara O’Bleness is a writer and editor on the Lifestyle and Trending News team for SI Swimsuit. Prior to joining SI Swimsuit in 2022, she worked as a writer and editor across a number of content verticals, including food, lifestyle, health and wellness, and small business and entrepreneurship. In her free time, O’Bleness loves reading, spending time with her family and making her way through Michigan’s many microbreweries. She is a graduate of Michigan State University’s School of Journalism.