The 2017 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover girl was finally revealed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! on Tuesday.
This year, the honor goes to Kate Upton! She joins the illustrious list of models who have covered the famous issue, which includes names like Kathy Ireland, Tyra Banks, Heidi Klum, Chrissy Teigen, Elle McPherson, and Brooklyn Decker.
This will be Upton’s third time fronting the Swimsuit Issue, and she told Kimmel the magazine didn’t let her know she would be the 2017 cover model until just a day before the big announcement.
RELATED: The Best Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition Covers of All Time
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 1964 Issue
The first issue of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue actually debuted in 1955 and featured Betty di Bugnano in a one-piece swimsuit. The issue did not sell well and SI put their next issue on hold until 1964 when they debuted the first cover featuring a white bikini. The issue is credited with making the bikini a serious piece of apparel.
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 1975 Issue
Model Cheryl Tiegs graced the cover in the 1975 issue. This was Cheryl’s second of three covers (1970, 1975, 1983 and was shot in Cancun, Mexico.
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 1981 Issue
Shot in Panama City, Florida by photographer John Zimmerman, Christie Brinkley is wearing an artfully tattered suit by Liz Bruce ($58) This cover was Christie’s third and final cover.
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 1983 Issue
Stunning in a white, lace, polyester-cotton-lycra suit by Monika Tilley for Elon ($58). This issue was shot in Jamaica and featured women canoeing and riding horseback in bikini’s.
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 1987 Issue
Shot in the Dominican Republic, model Elle Macpherson tight blue one piece with rhinestone embellishments. This cover was Elle’s second of three covers in a row (1986,1987,1988).
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 1988 Issue
Elle’s third and final cover issues, Elle is featured in Thailand in a tight spandex one-peice. Elle looks absolutely stunning.
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 1989 Issue
When model Kathy Ireland graced the 1989 cover of Sports Illustrated for their 25th Anniversary Issue, the model featured in a tiny yellow bandeau bikini could have never guessed that this issue would be the highest selling issue to date.
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 1994 Issue
The 90’s ushered in a new type of model and a new faces to the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition but before SI could close that chapter, they featured iconic models Katy Ireland, Elle Macpherson and Rachel Hunter sitting poolside in the 1994 issue. Macpherson and Ireland were featured on multiple issues but this was Hunter’s first and only cover.
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
Tyra Banks became the first African American supermodel to appear on the cover of Sport Illustrated.
By: Sports Illustrated
Tyra Banks appeared on the cover of Sport Illustrated again following her groundbreaking cover the year before.
By: Sport’s Illustrated
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 1998 Issue
Supermodel Heidi Klum appears on the 1998 swimsuit issue wearing a black and white crocheted bathing suit with the title “Heidi Klum, stradles the equator.”
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 1999 Issue
Covergirl Rebecca Romijn-Stamos appears in a metallic, mesh bikini designed by Rachel Simon Eve France Design ($800). The blonde bombshell is stunning in this barely-there bikini.
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2003 Issue
The 2000’s meant more skin and smaller suits, the sexy 2003 cover featuring Petra NÄÂmcová was shot one year before NÄÂmcová suffered major injuries after the 2004 Tsunami in Thailand.
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
Some of the best cover girls of all time appear on the 2000 Sports Illustrated edition.
By: Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2007 Issue
Singer Beyonce became the first non-model and non-athelete to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated in their “music edition”.
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2008 Issue
Supermodel Marisa Miller was featured in the “Barely Bikini’s” issue in 2008. The model was photographed wearing a string bikini bottom and layered necklaces.
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2009 Issue
Bar Rafaeli appeared on the 2009 cover of Sports Illustrated becoming the first Israeli model to appear in the magazine, posing with rock band Aerosmith.
Photo Credit: Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2010 Issue
Decker was chosen cover girl for the 2010 edition, shot on location in the Maldives islands. The blonde beauty labeled a
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2011 Issue
Model Irena Shaykhlislamova from Russia appeared in SI from
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2012 Issue
When Kate Upton appeared on the 2012 cover of Sports Illustrated she was 19-years-old.
Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2013 Issue
Model Kate Upton surprised everyone when it was announced that she was the covergirl for 2013
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“They’re very difficult to read,” she said with a laugh. “They just completely ghost you…They finally gave me a call yesterday.”
The 2017 SI Swimsuit Covers have been revealed. Welcome back, @KateUpton! Follow the link for more photos and video https://t.co/4cszjybbVppic.twitter.com/y7TguJdPVD
— SI Swimsuit (@SI_Swimsuit) February 15, 2017
PICS: The Sexy Ladies of the 2017 ‘Sports Illustrated’ Swimsuit Issue
Inside the pages of this year’s issue, fans will also find photospreads of Teigen, Christie Brinkley, Bianca Balti, Nina Agdal and Hannah Davis Jeter, as well as Olympic gold medal gymnasts Simone Biles and Aly Raisman.
“I’ve been wanting to do SI swim for years,” Raisman, 22, told ET of appearing in the issue. “I love how they feature beautiful women from all over the world and celebrate how all women are special and unique in their own way.”
WATCH: Bianca Balti Spills on How Shooting the ‘Sports Illustrated’ Swimsuit Issue Actually Works
Jeter, 26, stunned in her photo shoot just weeks after learning she was pregnant with her and husband Derek Jeter’s first child. Meanwhile, Teigen, 31, posed only six months after giving birth to her first child, Luna, with husband John Legend.
Brinkley, 63, returned to the magazine this year to pose with her two adult daughters — Alexa Ray Joel, 31, and Sailor Brinkley Cook, 18.
PICS: Simone Biles and Aly Raisman Pose for the ‘Sports Illustrated’ Swimsuit Issue 2017
In an Instagram post, the legendary model thanked the magazine for “sending a powerful message that good things come in packages of every size and we do not come with an expiration date!”
The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue hits stands Wednesday.
RELATED: Sports Illustrated Swimsuits Edition 2016
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