Martha Stewart, the 81-year-old lifestyle businesswoman, has made history by becoming the oldest swimsuit model to feature on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. She was among the multiple cover models for the 2023 edition of the magazine. Describing the moment as “historic,” Stewart released her cover photo on her Monday show Today. The photo was taken in the Dominican Republic for the shoot, where she appeared in a total of 10 looks.
Stewart, who began her career as a model at age 15, worked as a Wall Street stockbroker before starting a catering business and a lifestyle company that eventually grew into a media company. While she doesn’t think much about age, she acknowledged the significance of her feat. “When I heard I was going to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, I was like, ‘Oh, that’s good. I’m the oldest person on the cover of Sports Illustrated. I thought, ‘It’s going to be,'” she said.
Sports Illustrated reacted to Stewart’s cover photo on Twitter writing that the cover was “magnificent” and praised her for breaking new ground. “When we said this was going to be a great year, we were right,” the tweet added. While Stewart’s recent social media selfies and modeling work has garnered her admiration, particularly for the image of herself relaxing at the pool in 2020, her appearance on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit is expected to gain her even more widespread recognition.