The First Plus Size Model Just Made The Cover Of SI Swimsuit: 'This Is Epic'
February 14, 2016 10:35 AM ET
Ashley Graham is the first plus size model to ever be on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.
The 28-year-old is a size 16, and on Saturday night she found out that she and two other models made the cover of the bikini-clad magazine issue. (RELATED: Ronda Rousey Is On The Cover Of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Wearing Nothing But Body Paint)
(Photo: Sports Illustrated)
"I see my cover and I wanted to drop to my knees but this dress would've ripped and I have Spanx on underneath this," Graham said Saturday night.
"I thought 'Sports Illustrated' was taking a risk by putting a girl my size in the pages," Graham added. "But putting me on the cover? They aren't just breaking barriers; they are the standard now. This is beyond epic." (SLIDESHOW: Through The Years: All The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Covers)
Graham said she feels like she's making history.
"Girls who are insecure about their bodies, girls who feel fat, girls who have cellulite, girls who have stretch marks on their body — those are all the things that I had as a kid and I never had a woman like me growing up to look at," Graham said.
(Photo: Fernando Leon/Getty Images)
"I had my mother and that's one thing, but to have somebody who has cellulite, who has things that jiggle, who has back fat and talk about how you can be an overcomer and not let society take you down for all of that. That's real." (RELATED: This Plus Size Woman Just Landed A Spot In Sports Illustrated Swimsuit)
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