'Shaking' Martha Stewart Explains 'Challenge' of Preparing for SI Swimsuit Cover

Martha Stewart is Sports Illustrated Swimsuit's latest cover model!

The 81-year-old was just unveiled as one of SI Swimsuit's four cover models for 2023, and she opened up about the process of how she got there during an interview with TODAY on Monday, May 15.

As Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb showed off the cover of the magazine, Stewart was also seeing it for the first time on live television, and she appeared to be very pleased with how it turned out.

"Oh wow," she said as she began to clap and let out a little laugh as she saw the image for the first time. Guthrie asked the businesswoman what she thought of the photo, to which she responded, "I like that picture."

"I'm sort of shaking," Stewart said. "It's odd to go to an island and then get changed into nine different bathing suits in one day in front of all those people, and it turned out okay!"

Stewart received the call in November 2022, where she was asked to pose for the cover of Sports Illustrated in just two months in January 2023. She shared, "That was a kind of request that I never had before."

She revealed that being on the cover at her age "was a challenge," but she thinks she "met the challenge."

Stewart went on to describe how she prepared for the photo shoot, stating, "I didn't eat any bread or pasta for a couple of months. I went to pilates every other day, and that was great. I'm still going to pilates every other day because it's so great."

"To me, it's a testament to good living, and I think all of us should think about good living, successful living, and not about aging," Stewart gushed. "The whole aging thing is so boring."

Later in the interview, Stewart mentioned that her early modeling days helped her out with the SI Swim photo shoot. She began dabbling in the industry when she was just 15 years old, where she'd pose for luxury brands like Chanel.

"It was really good to learn how to pose in front of a camera, and it was a nice job," the lifestyle guru said.

And it looks like those early modeling days are paying off as the SI Swimsuit photos are absolutely beautiful!

Check out Stewart's full photoshoot on Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.

You can find more information on purchasing the annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue here.