Sixtine Rouyre Reacts to Being an SI Swimsuit 2023 Rookie With Heartfelt IG Post

The body neutrality influencer spent her 25th birthday being photographed for the magazine in Dominica.

Sixtine Rouyre was photographed by Yu Tsai in Dominica.Yu Tsai/Sports Illustrated

Sixtine Rouyre is finally sharing her best-kept secret: she is SI Swimsuit’s newest rookie. The body neutrality influencer posted the most adorable announcement message on Feb. 16 to share the exciting news with her 109,000 Instagram followers.

“SURPRISE IM A 2023 SPORTS ILLUSTRATED ROOKIE 😈,” she wrote. “i’ve been keeping this a secret for what has felt like so long and i’m so excited to finally share that i spent my 25th birthday shooting with the most incredible amazing team in Dominica.”

She gave a special shout out to her agents for helping her achieve her “greatest dreams” and for believing in her.

Rouyre shared a gorgeous trio of photos of herself in a stringy brown bikini decorated with real seashells.

“thank you to the entire SI team for an amazing shoot and an even better birthday,” she continued. “it was an absolute privilege to work with @yutsai88, @mj_day, @_farah_x_ and so many more. you guys have made my dreams come true 😍and thank you to all of you guys for getting me to this point. without your support and love i wouldn’t be the woman i am in these photos and i can’t thank y’all enough!”

“It’s giving 90s supermodel,” fellow model Hunter McGrady wrote in the comments. “Obsessed w you!”

“Hell yeah!!!👏🔥,” piped in 2023 SI Swimsuit model Katie Austin.

“Love seeing someone with my body shape in a swimsuit photoshoot,” one fan gushed.

“Congrats Sixtine,” chimed in SI Swimsuit editor in chief MJ Day. “Happy Swimsuit Day you gorgeous human! 🔥🔥🔥.”

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Rouyre was born in Brussels, Belgium and grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. She moved to New York City at 18 to pursue modeling full-time. She began regularly posting on TikTok at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and her audience grew quickly. Rouyre, who is represented by Ford Models, has created an encouraging and inspiring online space for women to love their bodies at any shape, size or stage of life.

Being featured in SI Swimsuit is definitely a “full-circle moment” for Rouyre, who became known for her “swimsuit series” on TikTok. She admitted that she basically manifested it into reality.

“I was like, ‘O.K., Sports Illustrated. That would be cool. That sounds fun,’” she said. “So I have a picture of one of the girls holding her Sports Illustrated magazine in Times Square, and it’s in the bottom corner [of my vision board]. I honestly forgot it was there, and then when I got the call, I was like, this is literally on my vision board. It’s kind of just unreal.”

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Meet Sixtine Rouyre—read the 2023 SI Swimsuit rookie’s full feature profile here.

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