Last week Sports Illustrated unveiled the cover for their 50th edition Swimsuit issue. Models Chrissy Teigen, Nina Agdal and Lily Aldridge graced the coveted cover wearing broad smiles and barely-there bikini bottoms.
SI dubbed the cover "some of the hottest real estate a supermodel can inhabit." It's no secret that landing on the cover is a big deal for swimsuit models. In a video posted by the magazine, Teigen, who recently married R&B singer John Legend, looked like she was on the verge of tears when the cover was revealed.
"We really honestly liked each other," Teigen said, according to Sports Illustrated. "Of course you are going to hear that from anybody who does a group shot, but this time it's true. The connection was natural and the mood was fun."
Aldridge gave MJ Day, editor of the Swimsuit issue, a hug while Agdal expressed her excitement via a video conference from Palm Springs. She later told People magazine how lucky she felt to land the on the cover so early in her career.
"I feel so lucky. It's the perfect introduction," Aldridge said. "It's just such a dream come true, and to just be a part of the 50th anniversary cover is just insane. I think I was in total shock when I found out!"
Fans might have been a little shocked - and upset - to notice Kate Upton was missing from the sexy cover this year but the 21-year-old was not left out of the special issue. Last year Upton graced the cover in an artic-themed shoot wearing a white Bomber jacket that barely covered her chest; this year she posed in several different teeny-tiny bikini's for a "zero-gravity" shoot.
The blonde beauty can be seen floating upside and effortlessly pulling off weightless poses inside a Zero G chamber aboard a space shuttle at Cape Canaveral. Upton can also be seen on the fold-out cover of 50th edition in a sparkly two-piece.
"The Zero-G experience was really exhilarating for everyone involved," Day said, The Slanted reports. "We have been almost everywhere in the past 50 years with SI Swimsuit, but we have never done anything like this. It was certainly the most out-of-the-box shoot. Once again, Kate surprised us all with how she handled modeling in weightlessness."
You can check out photos of all the models here.
