Breathe easy: Chrissy Teigen isn’t going to make you change the way you pronounce her last name.
Teigen, 32, opened up about the frequent mix-up surrounding the pronunciation of her last name while walking the red carpet with husband John Legend at the 2018 Emmy Awards on Monday night.
“It’s Tie-gen,” she told E!’s Giuliana Rancic, adding that she was prompted to share the correct pronunciation after Ariana Grande revealed her name is actually said as “Grand-ee.”
“That’s way bigger,” Teigen said. “Mine is the least of anyone’s worries.”
So how should people say her name moving forward? The model and cookbook author said she’s perfectly fine with “Tee-gen.”
“Sorry dad!” she joked.
“Tie-gen is the official, real Norwegian name,” Legend added.
Monday’s award show wasn’t the first time Teigen discussed her name’s pronunciation: She mentioned it on Twitter on Sunday night.
“Gave up a long time ago. last name is tie-gen not tee-gen,” she revealed in response to another user.
“I even correct people when they say it correctly. it’s all v effed up,” she wrote in another post on Sunday.
Teigen was on hand at the awards ceremony to support Legend, who is nominated for outstanding lead actor in a limited series or movie for his performance in NBC’s Jesus Christ Superstar Live in Concert.
Last week, Legend won at the Creative Arts Emmy Awards for co-producing the show, becoming one of the youngest winners of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony — and the first African-American man to EGOT.
Legend, 39, thanked Teigen for motivating him to work harder every day.
“We inspire each other,” he told reporters of his five-year marriage to Teigen after accepting the award. “She inspires my songs, she inspires me to want to be a better husband and a better father. We support each other fully in everything that we do. I root for her in her career and everything she’s doing. And I expect that she’ll be up here winning Emmys herself for all the awesome work that she does.”
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
