Kate Upton Channeled Her Inner Acrobat During Her SI Swim Photo Shoot in Aruba

The three-time brand cover girl traveled to the breathtaking beaches of the island country with Yu Tsai in 2018.

Ananya Panchal | Apr 18, 2024

Kate Upton was photographed by Yu Tsai in Aruba. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Kate Upton is an SI Swimsuit legend for good reason. The supermodel has starred on three separate covers over her six years with the magazine. She made her debut in 2011, when she was named Rookie of the Year following her photo shoot with Raphael Mazzucco in the Philippines. Just one year later, she landed on the cover of the ’12 issue in Australia, followed by another cover feature the following year after her iconic spread in Antarctica with visual artist Derek Kettela. The 31-year-old was then captured by James Macari in zero gravity for an unforgettable SI Swimsuit photo shoot in 2014.

The Michigan native took a quick two year break and returned to the fold with a bang when she traveled to Fiji, which resulted in her landing the cover yet again in 2017. Her most recent brand photo shoot was in 2018, with photographer Yu Tsai in Aruba.

Today, the mom of one, who shares daughter Genevieve with MLB Houston Astros star pitcher Justin Verlander, is a co-owner of non-carbonated vodka water brand, Vosa Spirits. She’s passionate about modeling, fashion and fitness and is constantly sharing sweet life updates or fun outtakes with her 6.7 million Instagram followers. She also recently joined TikTok, and we’re loving her content on the video-based platform, too.

Upton, who is set to host Hulu’s upcoming fashion reality competition series, Dress My Tour, is also an inspiration for tons of young SI Swimsuit models and other women breaking into the industry.

“For me, it was MJ [Day, editor in chief]’s passion for having it be this theme and this issue and that’s why I wanted to be a part of this magazine again,” Upton said of continually returning to the SI Swimsuit Issue. “Those are the campaigns I want to do and the career I want to have—to inspire women to love themselves. That’s a balance of working hard and eating healthy but also enjoying life and having cheat days and for the emphasis not to be on the ideal perfect body. It makes me proud to be asked back.”

Below are six stunning photos from Upton’s 2018 SI Swimsuit feature in Aruba.

Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Published Apr 18, 2024

ANANYA PANCHAL

Ananya Panchal is a writer on the Lifestyle and Trending News team for SI Swimsuit. Before joining SI Swimsuit in 2022, she worked at Bustle, the San Francisco Chronicle and the TODAY Show. When she is not writing or doom-scrolling on social media, Panchal can be found playing sudoku, rewatching One Tree Hill or trying new restaurants. She's also a coffee and chocolate (separately) enthusiast. Panchal has a bachelor’s in communications and journalism from Boston University.