Martha Stewart says people on the Sports Illustrated swimsuit set called her breasts 'the girls': 'I hate stuff like that'

• Martha Stewart says her breasts were called "the girls" during her Sports Illustrated photo shoot.
• She told the New York Times she's never used that phrase to refer to her chest before.

Martha Stewart told the New York Times that people working on the set of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition photo shoot called her breasts "the girls," a phrase she says she has never used to describe her chest.

Stewart, 81, appeared on one of four covers of the coveted swimsuit issue, making her the oldest model to ever grace the issue's cover. She reflected on the challenges of the Dominican Republic shoot, including wearing nine different bathing suits during the eight-hour photo shoot.

She told the Times that while on set, "All these people were prodding me and talking about 'the girls,'" referring to her breasts.

"I hate stuff like that," Stewart told the New York Times. "I have never called my breasts 'the girls' in my life."

Despite the prep work Stewart said she put in to get her body to a place where she "felt good enough about the way I look," — pilates three times a week, a light spray tan, facials at Mario Badescu — people at the shoot were still "nudging" her, telling her to "poke this out, push that in," Stewart recalled to the Times.

"I had to put up with that for eight hours," Stewart said. "Still, we were shooting in the Dominican Republic, and I had a really good time."