Lifestyle Beauty & Style Celebrity Fashion Camille Kostek Lands Her First 'Sports Illustrated Swimsuit' Cover — as a Rookie! A swimsuit star is born! By Brittany Talarico Brittany Talarico Brittany Talarico is PEOPLE's Deputy Style Director, where she oversees the brand's digital Style and Beauty coverage. This includes running lead on the Met Gala, which is among PEOPLE.com's top-trafficked red carpet events every year, interviewing the industry's top influencers (including all the Kardashian-Jenners), and breaking A-list celeb news (a New Jersey shore native, it is no surprise that her favorite interview ever was with Bruce Springsteen). Brittany is a style contributor to People Every Day Podcast and has represented the brand on national TV programs including Good Morning America and The CW's two TV specials on the British Royals. She joined PEOPLE from Cosmopolitan in 2013, where she was an Associate Editor. People Editorial Guidelines Published on May 8, 2019 08:58AM EDT Photo: Josephine Clough/SPORTS ILLUSTRATED From rookie to cover girl! Model, dancer and all-around ray of sunshine Camille Kostek can now add 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover star to her growing resumé. The 2018 SI Swimsuit Model Search winner and SI Swimsuit Rookie this year, joins SI vet Tyra Banks and soccer star Alex Morgan as one of three covers for Sports Illustrated‘s hotly anticipated swimsuit issue. “I’m one to be the biggest blabber mouths ever and this is one that’s left me shaking in my shoes and speechless like I’ve never been before,” Kostek said on Good Morning America Wednesday morning, when her cover was revealed to the world, alongside Banks’ photo shoot. Laretta Houston/SPORTS ILLUSTRATED She also gave a shout out to her NFL star boyfriend, retired New England Patriots star Rob Gronkowski. “He’s watching — hey baby!” Kostek wears a green Meshki string bikini (shop her “Amalia” top and bottoms now!) on her cover, which was photographed in Kangaroo Island, South Australia, by Josie Clough. “Camille Kostek, only a year after we discovered her in our annual Model Search casting, marks the launch of a career swimming in potential,” SI Swimsuit editor MJ Day says. “The three women that make up the covers of the 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue represent the brand in the most powerful way possible,” adds Day, who is celebrating her seventh year as editor and 22nd year working at the brand. “While each individual woman is so unique, they come together cohesively to tell a spectacular story.” She’s Back! Tyra Banks Comes Out of Modeling Retirement to Cover Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2019 Josephine Clough/SPORTS ILLUSTRATED RELATED PHOTOS: Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Models Guess How Many Bikinis They Have (Spoiler: It’s A LOT) Earlier this year, PEOPLE caught up with Kostek, who revealed that one of her favorite SI Swimsuit covers of all time was 2014’s 50th anniversary issue starring Lily Aldridge, Chrissy Teigen and Nina Agdal. “There’s always personalities behind the SI Swim women,” she shared. “MJ [Day] wants to know you inside and out — not just see shots of your body from every angle. MJ wants to know who you are. You may be the most beautiful, stunning person, but what do you believe and what do you stand for. Is about what else do you do in your life and what other passions you have.” SI Swim Model Camille Kostek Calls Out Body Shaming Trolls: ‘They’re So Small-Minded’ Kostek, who is a dancer, former New England Patriots cheerleader and TV journalist, recently used her social media platform to stand up against body shamers after she was trolled for a bikini photo she posted alongside boyfriend Gronkowski. “I’m going to keep posting bikini photos when I feel like it,” she said. “And it’s just the cherry on top when I get emails and messages from you saying that I inspire you and I encourage you to love the skin that you’re in. That’s why I do it.” SI Swimsuit hits newsstands on Wednesday, May 8. Close