Gayle King is one of the 52 cover stars for the 60th anniversary issue of Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit Issue, with the 69-year-old receiving a dedicated cover and shoot of her own.
The CBS anchor joins previous cover stars Kate Upton, Chrissy Teigen, and Hunter McGrady as the only stars with individual covers, while several other stars like Christie Brinkley, Winnie Harlow, Maye Musk, Brittany Mahomes, and more appeared alongside other women on three other joint covers.
SI Swimsuit EIC MJ Day commented on the anniversary issue: "We assembled some of our most influential alumni together for one legendary photo shoot. Sure, it looks back on history. But more significantly, it's a window into the present — where we are right now — and a hope for the future."
"The result was nothing short of spectacular. So spectacular that we created three covers, a triptych that speaks to the collective strength, power, beauty and diversity that is what SI Swimsuit looks like at 60."
Gayle herself remarked to SI while on location in Mexico: "I never in a million years thought I would be standing here in a bathing suit for Sports Illustrated [Swimsuit], but here I am, which says to me that sometimes people can dream, God can dream, the universe can dream a bigger dream than you can ever think for yourself."
"I would have never thought this was possible. This was nowhere on my bucket list. So I'm thinking maybe it was a dream that I didn't even know I wanted because now that I'm here, I want it bad." MJ also noted that Gayle on set "not so gently reminds us that women are limitless and control their destinies."
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For her actual cover, the TV anchor rocked a pink and green knit one-piece with spaghetti straps and a matching cover-up, and wore a host of other suits, including a black one-piece with a mesh dress on top, a plunging canary yellow swimsuit, a white ruffled halter neck piece, and more.
A video from the shoot was shared on social media by the Oprah Daily Instagram page, which was captioned: "Gayle King can add another job to her already impressive resume: Swimsuit Model!"
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"Our editor at large is on the cover of this year's @si_swimsuit edition and we've got all the behind the scenes action of her shoot in Mexico. Tap the link in our bio to watch — and join us in congratulating Gayle on this amazing feat!"
The mom and grandmom received a host of supportive comments from fans, who showered her with praise for remaining as confident and effervescent throughout her shoot as always.
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They left responses like: "Gayle, You look amazing! You're glowing from the inside out," and: "She looks great! So many people are looking even more beautiful as they are blessed with more birthdays," plus a comment from Tracee Ellis Ross which read: "LOVE YOU AND LOVE THIS…GORGEOUS HOT FIRE."