Ricki: I Was So Scared to Get Into a Swimsuit
Friday May 11, 2007

How did Ricki Lake come to bare (almost all!) in a swimsuit for this week's cover of Us? A little coaxing and a lot of bravery! Us Weekly's fashion director Sasha Charnin Morrison takes us inside the photo shoot in L.A. last weekend.

"I was lucky enough to have known Ricki since we were kids, as we used to perform and sing together, so it like seeing an old friend," Morrison tells Usmagazine.com.

"When we saw her, all jaws dropped. I had been told she was a size 4 to 6 (which usually means a 6 because no one really knows their sizes and you always go for a lie and a smaller number.) She was a hell of a lot smaller, more angular and extremely sexy."

Morrison knew immediately that Lake needed to flaunt her new figure in a swimsuit, but the former talk show host and Hairspray star was hesitant.

"I didn't want to get into it at first and was so scared but Sasha was amazing," says Lake. "I joked that I would try it on and we would have a laugh at me as Orca."

They finally settled on a red skirted swimsuit by Norma Kamali that was both streamlined and chic.

"She looked like a Vargas pinup girl," says Morrison. "When we did our unveiling of the swimsuit for her publicist and her friends, they were all screaming, almost crying. This was going to show how hard she worked and that she deserved to reveal the fact that she's sexy and fierce!"

Lake, 38, never looked in the mirror once, but got right on the set and "modeled the hell out of it," according to our fashion director. "Everything changed for her...her posture straightened, her body elongated, she looked absolutely stunning."

Morrison added: "I think she felt supremely sexy for this time in a long time. It was a joy and a pleasure to watch."

Now that the cover is out on newsstands, what does Lake think of the final product?

"I f--king love the cover! It’s amazing!” she tells Usmagazine.com. “So many people from my past have come forward telling me how great I looked, and it has been an overwhelming response. I am thrilled with everything and love the way I look on the cover and in the magazine."

For more pics of Lake showing off her fabulous new swimsuit body, check out the current issue of Us Weekly, on newsstands this week.