Kate Upton - 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover: Kate Upton, 19

By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL

NEW YORK (AP) — She's a Florida girl who's comfortable in a bikini, and now 19-year-old model Kate Upton is on the cover of the 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.

She wears a tiny red-and-brown, sparkle-covered string bikini with a view of the waters of Australia behind her as she poses for the magazine cover, which is scheduled to be unveiled on TV Monday night on "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS.

"That was one of the first photos from the first shoot," she said in a telephone interview before the big reveal. "It was my favorite swimsuit. ... I felt sexy in it but confident."

Upton, 5 feet 10, was born in Michigan but raised in Florida. Her hometown is Melbourne, on the state's east coast.

"In Florida, people walk around in their flip-flops, bikinis and jean shorts, so I'm very comfortable in a bathing suit," she said.

The 2012 magazine cover is her second time appearing in the annual SI issue that's the equivalent of the Super Bowl for models. Last year, when Irina Shayk was on the cover, Upton was chosen as rookie of the year.

"I have had a great year," she said. "For me, this is groundbreaking."

A huge perk of the job as the official swimsuit model is visiting lovely beaches, including shoots for the magazine in Sydney and Cairns, Australia, and Apalachicola, Fla.

She said living a healthy lifestyle for her includes working out regularly with a personal trainer and watching what she eats. But there's no special diet to prepare for a bikini shoot, she said, and she admits to splurging on the occasional ice cream or plate of fries.

Christie Brinkley and Elle Macpherson are among the now celebrity models who previously had this gig. Upton said, "I am so glad to be in their company."

she's really hot!

very confident at a very young age!

Sports Illustrated Cover Girl Kate Upton: 5 Facts to Know About Her
By Kathleen Perricone



Kate Upton got hearts racing when her cover of Sports Illustrated: Swimsuit Edition hit newsstands on Tuesday — or maybe you caught it earlier when it leaked online due to overwhelming demand. Sure, she's curvaceous in all the right places and her face embodies classic '50s pinup beauty, but there is more to the 19-year-old supermodel than just meets the eye.

Teen Dream

Upton, who grew up in Florida, was discovered at the age of 15 when she attended an open casting call in Miami — and Elite Model Management signed her that very afternoon. Soon enough, the 5'10" stunner was appearing in swimsuit and lingerie campaigns. Good thing she's not modest! "Because I started in Miami, I was always comfortable in that," the 2010-2011 Guess spokesmodel said in an interview with AskMen.com.

Horse Whisperer

Growing up, the teen was an accomplished equestrian who competed on a national level and won five championships with her beloved Roanie Pony in the American Paint Horse Association. With another horse, Zipped, the animal-lover took home top honors in the Western Riding category was in the Top 5 for Horsemanship in 2009.

Internet Sensation

Last April, a video of Upton doing "The Dougie" (the hip-hop dance made popular by the group Cali Swag District) at a Los Angeles Clippers game went viral with more than 3 million views on her personal YouTube channel. The second most-watched video on the Kate Upton Experience? The bikini-clad model having a staring contest with a male fan (Spoiler Alert: He loses almost immediately), which has over 1.2 million views. But something tells us that number will soon spike, too.

Ready For Her Closeup

Just like Brooklyn Decker before her, Upton is already making the move from SI cover girl to actress. Last year, she made her debut in the Ben Stiller-Eddie Murphy comedy "Tower Heist" as Mr. Hightower's mistress, and in April, fans will see her once again on the big screen in the much-hyped "Three Stooges." Her role? Sister Bernice, a very covered-up nun, alongside "Glee" star Jane Lynch -- so you just know it's going to be hilarious. "If I get pegged as a bikini girl, that's fine, and that can still translate into acting or other areas," Upton told Esquire last year. "I don't want to be doing bikini shoots my whole life."

Future Football Wife
There's something about Upton -- gee, what could it be? -- that really attracts some of the biggest names in the NFL. Last July, New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski tweeted a few, er, forward messages to the buxom teen including a shirtless photo of himself making lewd gestures.



But there's another football star who has managed to score a touchdown with the top model: Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez. Although the two claim to be just friends, eyewitnesses have spied the hunk -- who has also been linked to Hayden Panettiere and Jamie-Lynn Sigler -- doing the walk of shame out of Upton's NYC apartment a number of times over the last few months.

Kate Upton Defends Her Curves

Model Kate Upton's va-va-voom physique has been in the news since she lit up the cover of Sports Illustrated in February. She isn't your typical model--at least not your typical rail thin millennial cat walker. The voluptuous twenty-year-old is more of a throwback to the late 1980s early '90s when glamazons like Cindy Crawford dominated the fashion pages and Anna Nicole Smith first posed for Guess.

Not everyone in the world of fashion and beauty approves. "She's like a Page 3 girl," Sophia Neophitou, who books Victoria's Secret Shows, told the New York Times earlier this year referring to the half-naked women featured in British tabloids. "She's like a footballer's wife, with the too-blond hair and that kind of face that anyone with enough money can go out and buy."

The blogger, "Skinny Gurl," who critiqued Upton's curves as "lardy" last week went even farther. Skinny Gurl's blog, SkinnyGossip, is one of many so-called "thinspiration" sites that promote extreme diets and worship the bodies of extra-lean celebrities. In her June post on Upton, Skinny Gurl compared her to a cow, a "piggie," and described the young beauty as: "Huge thighs, NO waist, big fat floppy boobs, terrible body definition--she looks like a squishy brick."

Upton seems to take it in stride. Although she hasn't responded directly to haters like Skinny Gurl (contrary to some news reports), in a recent interview with the Sunday Times UK, she said, "My body is something that you have to work out and eat healthily for. I'm not doing drugs or not eating. I want to enjoy life and I can't be enjoying life if I'm not eating and miserable."

The irony is, Upton doesn't look out of place in magazines such as Vogue where she recently posed in demure autumn attire, and she's certainly not overweight. According to the New York Times, she is 5'11", and her measurements are 36'-25'-34'. You can argue that the model has been overexposed (both literally and figuratively)--"We apologize in advance for your decreased productivity" tweeted GQ annoyingly after publishing its July issue which featured Upton licking a popsicle in a tiny bikini--but describing as her fat represents a twisted view of the female form. Her rep says, "Its absurd. Kate's gorgeous and very healthy."

And Upton fans aren't buying it either. A backlash against the post has pushed Skinny Gurl to remove features such as her "Starving Tips of the Day" from the website and add links to resources on "depression, eating disorders, and self harm."

As for Upton, we suspect she's enjoying a burger from Carl's Jr., (which she represents) and scheduling a wax appointment for her next bikini shoot.

"She's laughing all the way to the bank," supermodel and author Carol Alt told Good Morning America. "I would just say keep your head up and keep moving forward."

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover: Kate Upton, 19

By SAMANTHA CRITCHELL

NEW YORK (AP) — She's a Florida girl who's comfortable in a lingerie, and now 19-year-old model Kate Upton is on the cover of the 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue.

She wears a tiny red-and-brown, sparkle-covered string bikini with a view of the waters of Australia behind her as she poses for the magazine cover, which is scheduled to be unveiled on TV Monday night on "Late Show with David Letterman" on CBS.

"That was one of the first photos from the first shoot," she said in a telephone interview before the big reveal. "It was my favorite swimsuit. ... I felt sexy in it but confident."

Upton, 5 feet 10, was born in Michigan but raised in Florida. Her hometown is Melbourne, on the state's east coast.

"In Florida, people walk around in their flip-flops, bikinis and jean shorts, so I'm very comfortable in a bathing suit," she said.

Now a song to my mind which is -- Spanish eye by backstreet boys. She was form florida but looks for the moon.. she has a good body to show off.....

Now a song to my mind which is -- Spanish eye by backstreet boys. She was form florida but looks for the moon.. she has a good body to show off.....

the most successful model in her batch and prime years, keep up the good work Kate Upton