Cid Moreira posed in the foam bath for the emblematic cover of Caras magazine

If it were in times of artificial intelligence, the photo in which the then serious presenter of Jornal Nacional appears languidly looking at the camera in a foam bath could leave many people suspicious. He still had both legs raised, in a pose, let’s say, very conceptual.

But it was true. In 1993, Cid Moreira, who died this Thursday morning (3), aged 97, appeared on the cover of Caras magazine in this way. The idea, according to the publication’s website, was to “show its different facets” outside the JN bench.

He then received the team of journalists at his home for a “more intimate” shoot, which resulted in the image, one of the most emblematic in the magazine’s history, which had the following title: “The shy man behind the best-known face from Brazil shows his house, his wife and his legs”.

Behind the scenes of the photo is a story in itself. In a recent interview with Rafael Cortez’s channel, Cid fondly remembered that day and gave more details about the portrait — at that exact moment, he was doing abdominal exercises under the foam.

“I love that photo. I was at a photo shoot and I was already tired. Then the helper’s reel ran out and he said ‘I have to get it from the car'”, he said. “I stood there waiting, and then I slowly started to exercise my abdomen, I was like that, lifting. I had that control. I forgot that there was a photographer there, he hit and won a prize”, he said.

Cid did muscle exercises at least until last year, as he said in an interview with F5 in September 2023, when he had just turned 96 years old. “I do a little Pilates, treadmill and use the computer well, I’m an expert at that.” He also made a declaration of love to his wife, Fátima Sampaio: “I want to reach 150 to enjoy life and date my wife more.”