The iconic Vanity Fair cover photograph of a naked and pregnant Demi Moore was never meant for the public.

The actress revealed that the picture, which started the trend of other pregnant celebrities appearing naked in magazine covers, was supposed to be a personal photo session, contactmusic.com reports.

She said: "Annie had photographed me pregnant with all three (daughters). The shot that ended up being on the cover of Vanity Fair wasn't even done for the magazine. It was just for my family and me. Then Annie called, we kind of joked, and I said it would be amazing if they would do this on the cover."

She added: "It did seem to give a little bit more permission to feel sexy, attractive when you're pregnant... but I really didn't expect for the response to be what it was. I was pretty shocked."