Gayle King, co-anchor of CBS Mornings, is making her debut as a Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition cover model at 69 years of age this month.
The CBS journalist and pal of Oprah Winfrey, who will turn 70 this year, was surprised to find out about being chosen for a cover during the Tuesday broadcast of her morning show, according to USA Today.
During a segment on the magazine’s swimsuit edition, former fashion superstar Kate Hudson insisted that she and Hunter McGrady were not the only cover stars on the morning show. She held up a copy of the cover that will feature King. As the studio audience applauded, the surprised King blurted out, “I’m on the cover? They told me I was just going to be on the inside!”
“Yes, girl, you did that!” McGrady told King, adding that “sexy isn’t an age, sexy isn’t a size.”
Later, during the segment, the nearly 70-year-old cover model told SI that she did not want any retouching done to her images.
“They said, ‘What about retouching?’ I said, ‘I don’t really want retouching.’ I don’t mind if you take out a couple of dimples in the thighs, however, but I really didn’t want it,” King explained.
“It wasn’t something I dreamed about, but it was one of the highlights of all the things I’ve done because I never thought this would be possible,” King said of her appearance in the issue.
The 60th Anniversary cover models will include King, Upton, plus-sized model Hunter McGrady, and Chrissy Teigen. There will also be three covers featuring 26 past cover stars.
The SI Swimsuit edition this year will also feature Chanel Iman, Christen Harper, Kamie Crawford, Katie Austin, and Louisiana State University gymnastics star Olivia Dunne. Newcomers include Brittany Mahomes, Jena Sims, Lori Harvey, and Big 12 athletes Alexa Massari, Jasmine Williams, and Jillian Hayes.
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