Every year, Sports Illustrated brings together a stunning group of women for its swim issue. From Padma Lakshmi rocking a bikini decades after she anticipated to Megan Fox and Martha Stewart being part of 2023’s shoot, to Jordan Chiles putting on swimwear for 2025’s issue, there’s always a diverse group recruited each year, and often, they get candid about what it’s like to be part of this iconic pop culture moment. This year, Hilary Duff was one of the cover models, and she got real about not feeling model-worthy and the urge to get in “rip-roaring shape.”
Looking at Duff’s SI cover, it’s clear that she’s in excellent shape, and she looks drop-dead gorgeous. However, going into the experience, the actress got candid about why she didn’t feel the urge to say yes immediately. Recalling what she was thinking when the call from Sports Illustrated came in, Duff told Kylie Kelce on Not Gonna Lie:
I was driving to pick my kids up from school, and my first reaction wasn’t like ‘Oh my god, yes, I’ll do it.’ My first reaction was like, ‘Shit, I gotta get in rip-roaring shape,’ you know? Like that was my first [reaction]. I’m also not a model. I’m 5’2”. I’ve had four kids.
Kylie Kelce cut in to say that “these photos suggest otherwise,” as images from Duff’s shoot popped up on screen. And I’d have to agree with the podcast host, the Lizzie McGuire star looks like a model (and I'd argue she always has).
While Duff’s first instincts involved a bit of fear, overall, she was very excited to take this on. It also helped that she adored the team she’d be working with on this shoot, as she explained:
Honestly, it was a huge honor and challenge and all the things I like. So, when I heard that it’s mostly female-run over there now, like the photographer was who I wanted, the editor-in-chief is incredible. It got to be my whole styling team, my hair and makeup. Like they wanted me to feel my best, and I was like, ‘I will do this. This is fun.’
She went on to recall that the photoshoot happened in Turks and Caicos, and she flew in for it “the night of the Super Bowl.” She then immediately left to go do a concert in Vegas, so, as she put it, it was a “whirlwind.” However, she loved it, saying:
So, it was kind of like this whirlwind thing where you’re in a sandbar in the middle of the ocean for a blink of time, and I felt really free doing that.
Overall, Duff made it clear that she’s proud of her body and where she is in life. She’s a proud mom of four kids – Luca, 14, Banks, 7, Mae, 5, and Townes, 1 – she’s just reignited her music career, she’s in fantastic shape, and all around she seems to be thriving. Adding to all that goodness, she was honored to be asked to do the Sports Illustrated swim issue. Further explaining that point, she said:
At this stage in my life, I feel really proud of myself; to be asked to be on the swimsuit edition was a big deal.
Over the years, women, like Salma Hayek, have been open about doing the shoot and the nerves that come with it. It makes sense, too. It takes a lot of confidence to do something like this, and the people on these covers always look absolutely stunning. So, I get the nerves.
However, in the end, Hilary Duff rocked the cover, and I really appreciate how real she kept it as she recalled what it was like to go through this whirlwind experience.
