Kate Upton Goes Topless for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover

Kate Upton has managed to snag all three of the 2017 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit covers this year. Upton revealed the cover news on Jimmy Kimmel Live last night and has posted photos of her three covers on her Instagram account. As a caption with the photos, Upton has written:

Wow, I feel so honored and excited to be back with Sports Illustrated!! Thank you @si_swimsuit and @mj_day for inviting me to be part of an issue that features and celebrates beauty and confidence in every shape and size #siswim17 #grateful.

Upton has gone topless for all three covers and is practically naked, which definitely makes for a good cover story.

The theme of this year’s Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue is body diversity and age inclusion and Upton told People that she was proud to be a part of it. Upton explained:

To have an issue that focuses on that is really an amazing moment for me because I think it’s important for everyone to be the best they can be, but not to strive to be a company or industry’s idea of perfect. For SI to emphasize every different type of perfect is really inspiring. Those are the campaigns I want to do and the career I want to have — to inspire women to love themselves.

Upton then expanded on her thoughts, talking about her own body, saying:

This year, I had a completely different mindset about my body and instead of always trying to fit in a certain sample size, I wanted to be strong and healthy. Changing my workout and focusing on weight training helped me do that. It helped me think about my body as a machine and less of something people can judge me on. People feel ashamed when they look bad one day, but it’s okay not to love yourself every second of every day. Appreciate what your body can do.

This marks Upton’s third time on the cover of SI Swim, first landing the cover at 19 years old in 2012. Currently, the model is engaged to Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander.

Check out the big reveal of Upton’s 2017 covers on Jimmy Kimmel Live in the below video.

Leading up to the release of the issue, there were reports about Upton’s supposed “diva demands”. A source told Page Six:

Kate demanded that if she did the shoot, that she absolutely must get the cover. She also had a list of photographers and hair and makeup people she would only work with … She was being a big fucking diva. She’s thinks she’s better than everyone because she’s an actress.

In 2015, the NY Post ran an article that was questioning if Upton’s “ego was ruining her career.” A fashion publicist told the NY Post:

She became really unappreciative of her success. It totally went to her head. She didn’t understand that people had taken a chance on her.

A second source said that Upton had a lot of demands and was refusing to do shoots with other models.