Kate Upton Shares How Motherhood Has Changed the Ways She Views Social Media

The SI Swimsuit model and actress shares her 5-year-old daughter with husband Justin Verlander.

Kate Upton was photographed by Yu Tsai in Mexico. / Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

In 2017, Kate Upton landed her third SI Swimsuit Issue cover and tied the knot with husband Justin Verlander. The next year, she returned to the fold again, traveling to Aruba with photographer Yu Tsai. That same year, she also welcomed her baby girl with the MLB star pitcher.

Today, the 31-year-old is loving being a mom to her 5-year-old and she’s still dominating in her career. The Michigan native just landed two additional SI Swimsuit covers, celebrating the publication’s 60th anniversary. Upton posed on the breathtaking beaches of Mexico for the front of the 2024 issue, and also traveled to Hollywood, Fla., to star alongside 26 other brand legends for an iconic triptych of group covers.

The Vosa Spirts co-owner was just 18-years-old when she first joined the SI Swimsuit family. She landed her first cover in 2012, after her sophomore photo shoot in Australia, and was still a teenager at the time. While social media was nowhere near as prevalent as it is today, the moment sparked a lot of backlash and online criticism over her body.

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“[The cover] created a lot of body conversations. It was basically fat-shaming at that time,” Upton told InStyle. “When I experienced being on the cover, everyone was talking about me before I'd really figured out who I was. Everyone was telling me who I was. It made me expedite my journey of finding out what I stood for, who I was, why I was doing this job, why I was going through this criticism.”

As Upton has grown up, and now has a daughter of her own, she’s aware of the way social media has changed and is cautious about teaching her daughter the right way to use and consume content on various platforms.

“I think having a daughter has really made me way more passionate about the messaging that's out there for young women,” the actress added. “The pressure to edit your photos or to always want to change your appearance, whether it's through makeup or surgery, that is something we do not need to be putting on our youth. I feel way more passionate about being healthy and finding that balance in life and showing her that nobody's perfect. Everyone has good days and bad days and [I’m] passionate about having that be more of a through-line in the industry.”

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