Martha Stewart, who is 81-years-old, posed for the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, making her the oldest cover model in SI swimsuit issue history.
“Martha Stewart is continuing to make her mark — this time on the cover of the 2023 SI Swimsuit issue!” Sports Illustrated Swimsuit announced in a tweet on Monday.
Martha Stewart is continuing to make her mark — this time on the cover of the 2023 SI Swimsuit issue!https://t.co/WqY9v7EwQR
— Sports Illustrated Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) May 15, 2023
Stewart was reportedly photographed by Ruven Afandor in the Dominican Republic. In a teaser image posted by Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, the 81-year-old lifestyle guru can be seen clad in a very low-cut white bathing suit.
“When I heard that I was going to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, I thought, Oh, that’s pretty good, I’m going to be the oldest person I think ever on a cover of Sports Illustrated,” Stewart said. “And I don’t think about age very much, but I thought that this is kind of historic.”
In addition to Stewart, the magazine revealed that actress Megan Fox, transgender singer Kim Petras, and model Brooks Nader will also be featured on this year’s covers.
“There is no theme [to this year’s issue] — rather, there is a vision, a sentiment, a hope that women can live in a world where they feel no limitations, internally or externally,” SI swimsuit editor-in-chief MJ Day said in a statement.
“But the absence of a theme is not to say that [these women] don’t share common traits. They’re constantly evolving,” Day added.
Petras, a biological male who identifies as female, told SI that landing the swimsuit issue cover is a dream come true.
“I was so excited when I got the call to be in Sports Illustrated,” the trans singer said. “It’s very iconic, and a lot of very iconic people have done it before, so [it was a] big dream come true for me.”
This will not be the first time Sports Illustrated featured a biological male posing as a woman on the cover of its Swimsuit issue.
In 2021, Leyna Bloom, a biological man who identifies as a woman, became the first openly trans cover model in Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue history.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.