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Camille Kostek Peruses ‘SI Swimsuit’ Book in Bikini Top in New Photo

Game show host Camille Kostek is helping Sports Illustrated Swimsuit find their next cover girl. And she’s browsing the “SI Swimsuit” book to prepare.

In a Friday Instagram post, the former Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model shared that she is helping sift through applications for the next Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Kostek was the first winner of the Sports Illustrated Swim Search. That’s an open casting call contest in which aspirants were asked to submit 60-second Instagram videos.

“Out of office and on location with the @si_swimsearch finalists this week👙😍🦋,” Kostek posted to Instagram. “I am loving getting to know these girls beyond what I’ve been learning about them online through the submission process this year. The energy is so felt here all week long and I’m stoked to be a piece of their journey . This @si_swimsuit swimsearch changed my life forever 4 years ago and now I get to witness it changing theirs 💛.”

SI Swimsuit Issue Hits Stands in May

The Swimsuit Issue previously hit stands in February. But since 2019, Sports Illustrated has been releasing it in May. So that puts it on newsstands closer to swimsuit season.

“This is where it’s great,” Sports Illustrated editor MJ Day told the Associated Press of the May date. “It’s always hard to think about buying a swimsuit when its 18 degrees out.”

The pushed-back release date also frees up other locations where the issue can be shot. The photographers typically need to wrap things up eight weeks before the issue goes to print. And that has previously meant that many places they’d like to shoot were stuck in the middle of winter when they had to photograph the swimsuit models.

“We were so limited with our timing,” Day told the AP. “There’s been a whole set of places that have been off the table for us because their summers are when we’re not shooting.”

The SI Swimsuit Issue launched in 1964. It has been widely considered the kingmaker in the world of supermodels. But in recent years, the magazine has experimented with plus-size models, amputee models, older models, unedited photos, painted bikinis, professional athletes and other celebrities.

“Creating is always a challenge, right?” Day said. “But I think that’s what inspires you to do better, to do more and to do different. If it was the same formulaic thing year after year I think that’s boring to the creators as well as the viewership.”

The Sports Illustrated Swim Search updates the contest to appear on the SI Swimsuit Issue cover for the social media age. And as Kostek points out, for one person, SI Swimsuit can be a life-changing edition.

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