Size 16 model Ashley Graham made history when she landed one of the three 2016 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue covers, and she's hoping the stunning images will help inspire young girls struggling with body image, especially since there have been plenty of people who have tried to stop her from following her own modeling dreams.
"I had agents tell me, 'You'll never get on the cover of magazines. You'll never be an editorial model.' I had agents wave money in my face and say, 'If you drop some pounds, you can have a lot more of this!' And not even THAT was something that encouraged me to lose weight!" the 28-year-old brunette beauty told E! News at the Sports Illustrated debut party in NYC. "The moment I realized I had to be healthy and happy in who I was – that's when my career took off."
Having a plus-size model in a bikini on the cover of this iconic yearly special issue is a major deal, especially since none of the shots were photoshopped. The other two covers featured UFC fighter Ronda Rousey and model Hailey Clauson as a way to prove that women come in all shapes and sizes, but Graham's cover is a huge breakthrough and a first for Sports Illustrated.
"I am hopefully going to change the lives of so many different young women," Graham continued. "So many young women who have been told their cellulite is ugly, that their inner thighs that jiggle and touch are ugly – because I have all those things – and I'm on the cover of Sports Illustrated. So they must be beautiful!"
She went on to explain that her mother has a lot to do with her confidence because she always told her, "You are bold. You are brilliant, and you are beautiful."
"And those are the things I had to tell myself again after I had gained weight in a very healthy way," Graham admits. "Now I'm really proud of the woman I've become – 'flaws' and all."
Sports Illustrated managing editor MJ Day explained that the magazine staff chose these three women for the cover photos because they are all "beautiful, sexy and strong," as HNGN previously reported. "Beauty is not 'one size fits all.' "
Day explained that she chose Graham's photo specifically because she is a "sultry, feminine masterpiece."
"I dare you not to stare at her," she added. "Ashley commands your attention in her photographs. She owns her sexiness in a way that every woman should. Her confidence is contagious."
Last year, Graham made history when she was the first plus-size model to ever be featured in a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and she went on to make headlines everywhere when she walked the runway during NYFW in her very own lingerie line.
"I believe that what I'm doing, and what other plus-size models of my generation are doing, is continuing to open that door for the next plus-size model to come in," she said at the time. "And to not be labeled as a plus-size girl, for her not to be judged by the number that's inside of her pants, for her to be able to be on the cover of American Vogue and it not have the whole article be, 'Are you fat and happy?' "
