Martha Stewart, becomes oldest woman to grace SI Swimsuit cover
Martha Stewart is making history as a cover model for the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
The TV personality, 81, is one of four stars to grace one of the 2023 covers of the annual edition, along with actress Megan Fox, pop singer Kim Petras and model Brooks Nader.
Stewart is the oldest person to cover the Swimsuit Issue. Maye Musk, who is now 75, set the previous mark last year.
“To be on the cover at my age was a challenge, and I think I met the challenge,” Stewart said Monday on NBC's “Today” show.
“For me, it is a testament to good living. I think that all of us should think about good living, successful living, and not about aging. The whole aging thing is so boring.”
The Jersey City-born Stewart says modeling helped put her through college. Sports Illustrated reached out to her about the cover opportunity in November and asked her to be ready by late January, she told NBC.
“When you're through changing, you're through,” Stewart said. “That's one of my mottoes . ... Change is very good. Evolution is very good. Trying new things, being fearless, is very good.”
Fox, 36, rose to fame in 2007′s “Transformers” and has also starred in “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “New Girl.” In February, Petras, 30, became the first transgender woman to win a Grammy for best pop duo for “Unholy,” her hit collaboration with Sam Smith.
“The Grammy-winning
pop star, a beacon of inspiration for the LGBTQ+ community, has blazed her own path to superstardom, but it has been anything but a straight line,” said MJ Day, the editor of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Nader, 25, has appeared in the Swimsuit Issue every year since 2019, when she won the magazine's Swim Search open casting call competition.
The 2023 issue comes out Thursday.
Stewart also recalled the day in 2008 when Snoop Dogg was a guest on “The Martha Stewart Show” on Hallmark. It was the genesis of the unlikely friendship and business partnership between the two celebrities.
Although Stewart thinks back fondly on that shoot, where the pair mashed potatoes and Snoop taught her phrases like “fo shizzle” and “all hood,” their friendship really came together in 2015 during Comedy Central's roast of pop singer Justin Bieber.
While the pair and other guests rehearsed for hours, Stewart remembered the famed marijuana aficionado never losing his high, which ultimately brought relief to the TV show host.