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Hunter McGrady Said “Hell Yes” When She Was Asked to Model Again for SI Swimsuit Just Six Months Postpartum

The new mom has been photographed for the issue five times.
Hunter McGrady attends the launch of the 2022 Issue and Debut of Pay With Change with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.

Hunter McGrady attends the launch of the 2022 Issue and Debut of Pay With Change with Sports Illustrated Swimsuit.

SI Swimsuit models Camille Kostek and Hunter McGrady had some sweet girl chat at the 2022 issue's launch week earlier this year. McGrady welcomed her first baby boy with husband Brian Keys in June 2021, the only year she didn't model for SI Swimsuit since she began in 2017. 

“Hunter has been somebody who is a champion for all walks of life, especially us women who are still trying to navigate the issue,” Kostek gushed. “I was a rookie when we met (in 2019), and I was still learning so much about the brand.”

Kostek added that everyone is friends within the SI Swimsuit family, and you can’t really tell a rookie from a veteran such as McGrady.

“You would have thought we were besties from the beginning,” Kostek explained. “She just took me under the wing.”

Kostek asked McGrady what it was like to return this year as a new mom. McGrady, who is 29 and as confident as ever, said shooting just six months after giving birth was NBD. She knows that all bodies are bikini bodies and deserve to be celebrated at every stage of life. 

“[SI Swimsuit editor in chief] MJ [Day] texted me and she was like, ‘Listen, you don’t have to say yes; you don’t have to do it.’ And I was like, ‘Hell yeah I’m gonna do it.’ I want to put on a swimsuit no matter what my body looks like and show women who are out there that just because we’re moms, it doesn’t mean that we’re not sexy anymore,” she continued. “It doesn’t mean that we are less than. Like we can (still) rock a swimsuit.”

“Wear the damn swimsuit,” McGrady finished, and Kostek agreed: “I love this.”

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