Kate Upton responds to criticisms of her look: “I love my curves, I’m healthy”

The more I hear about our current Sports Illustrated cover girl, Kate Upton, the more I like her. I think she should be proud of her SI: Swimsuit Issue cover, even if they oddly ‘Shopped her mons. I also think that people are hatin’ on this poor 19-year-old girl for no good reason. Sure, she’s not “high fashion” – she never claimed to be. It doesn’t seem like she wants to walk the runways in Paris – she wants print media work, and she wants to be a “celebrity model”. More power to her. Anyway, Kate has a new interview with Access Hollywood, and she comes across as so… sweet. Not sickly-sweet or fake, just kind of naïve and good-hearted and very, very young. She answers the criticism that she’s too downmarket, and she also talks about body image and how her friends never “staged an intervention” about her eating habits:

I love Kate’s response of “Gisele’s a football player’s wife. Gisele’s in that category so I’m good.” As for the Victoria’s Secret runway organizer’s comments, Kate says, “I’m doing fine in my career, I don’t need to walk down their runway so it’s all good. She can think that and I can think whatever I want about her.” And seriously – last year, when she gained some weight, even some of the boy bloggers were criticizing her, so I‘m glad she talked about loving her curves too – “I love my curves, I’m healthy.” She’s just a sweet (kind of dumb) kid. Leave her alone!

Photos courtesy of WENN.

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90 Responses to “Kate Upton responds to criticisms of her look: “I love my curves, I’m healthy””

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  1. Lynnie says:

    What curves? She’s all of a size 4.

    • Pigelot says:

      Seriously. Curves? She weighs eight pounds.

      • NinaG says:

        I was thinking the same damn thing! I was expecting to see a curvy women, with hips, butt and breast but she is not curvy at all. Gosh I have no concept of Holly wood standard of thin, curvy, overweight. Shish!!!

      • Annie says:

        I’m not implying I think she’s too skinny but she’s hardly what I’d think of when I hear the word “curvy”. Her body structure is simply not curvy, unless we are only talking about her boobs. I actually noticed she has very narrow shoulders for a model, and narrow shoulders are more feminine and tend to make boobs look bigger…perhaps that is why I keep hearing she has a “womanly” body? Her weight *does* seem healthy for her body build though.

        She has a true “ruler” body shape unlike most models who have a wider bone structure all over than Kate.

    • Delta Juliet says:

      “Curves” has come to mean boobs, either natural or store-bought. Nothing more, nothing less.

    • mia girl says:

      I was thinking the same damned thing! If she has curves we are going to have to call them hairpin curves… because I sure don’t see them.

      And THIS really pisses me off bc my teenage daughter is tall, lean, healthy with lovely curves and yet if she sees this, she begins to project that she must be fat (she is not in the neighborhood of fat), because if this skinny model think she has curves, then what does she have. We’ve all been there with teenage body image stuff, and it’s so hard to see my daughter going through it (and with no reason!).

    • gg says:

      What they’re actually referring to is, recently, older photos from last year were dug out, where she weighed a bit more (and mostly wasn’t exercising because she had some cute little fat rolls), and it was claimed her torso had been airbrushed beyond recognition. But then the magazine showed a video of the shoot, clearly showing her torso is actually that flat at this time. She answered by saying her weight fluctuated just like anybody’s.

      The only thing I take issue with is – the only reason they picked this photo is because you can almost see her wazoo, and I have a problem with that. It’s a bit obscene in my opinion. NO bikini or underwear goes that low – it wouldn’t stay on. It’s gratuitous (even more than SI’s usual) and should not be on a public billboard.

      • gigi says:

        She’s still not exercising. Check out her calves. Do those look like they’ve run a kilometer recently, or ever? She reminds me of those top-heavy girls who get everyone to think they’re sexy by using their big boobs to distract from everything else.

      • Annie says:

        Calf muscle size seems mostly genetically determined and they are notoriously hard to build. She can’t help having chicken legs.

  2. brin says:

    I feel the same way about her. Since when does an SI cover model have to defend her body? Leave her alone!

    • Jezi says:

      Exactly! I remember a lot of the models that posed for SI weren’t exactly runway models. Kathy Ireland, Angie Everhart. I don’t remember them all but I think it’s ridiculous that people are being so mean to a 19 year old.

  3. Rux says:

    I miss the days of buxom blondes such as Bridgite Bardot and Marilyn Monroe. This girl has a great woman’s body and that’s the end of it. The shade thrown from the fashion arena is such a bitch move.

    We scream that all those models are too skinny and then when we get one that is healthy and picked by the public the fashion people groan. Why? Because they did not pick the next twiggy that is supposed to demonstrate to us that we are too fat and buying this $5000 bag will make us better.

    • Minty says:

      ^This

      Fashion people are full of themselves. They can pronounce something as beautiful when it’s really ugly, but it doesn’t matter because they have enough sycophants who’ll believe their bullshit and buy their overpriced crap.

      Even worse, they have a weird problem with very feminine bodies and practically encourage models to develop eating disorders. Designers make the sample sizes in 0-4. Many models starve and/or overexercise to fit into those clothes.

      That wasn’t the case during Cindy Crawford’s time. Top fashion models then averaged a size 4-6. Designers did not like the attention and power the ’90s supermodels had, so they prevented that from happening again. What a sick industry.

  4. Eleonor says:

    Her photoshopped biscuit on that cover is horrible! BTW I think she is harmful.

    • Jaye says:

      Why do you think she’s harmful? Or did you mean harmless? Not trying to pick a fight, but if you did mean harmful, I’m curious as to why you feel that way.

    • Sisi says:

      what’s harmful about her?

      lol, Jaye beat me to it and phrased it better : )

      • Eleonor says:

        Sorry I forgot to type the “don’t think she is harmful”. She seems quite normal, with a hot body, and a girl who doesn’t need all that photoshop.

    • Minty says:

      In what way is she harmful?

      ETA: Apparently, two people before me had that same question in mind.

    • DreamyK says:

      Yeah, I don’t get the hype either. For some reason I’m getting a Tara Reid vibe off of her. Just sort of low budgety. If SI was serious about selling some swimsuits, they’d put Kelly Brook on the cover.

    • gigi says:

      She looks so average, but maybe that’s the appeal.

  5. Heather says:

    I think she’s gorgeous.

  6. Helvetica says:

    She has georgeous bod, but ok face.
    Anyway it’s great that she’s confidence

  7. JudyJudyJudy says:

    She has the right attitude to be happy.

  8. Shaz says:

    She has beautiful eyes – you know how British guys say, “She’s got a nice set of eyes,”but she really does. As well as being quite beautiful, and does a mean Dougie. Whoever that is 🙂

  9. tia says:

    people are so afraid of people being overweight. It is crazy. She is on the cover of SI, she isn’t fat. People can be so mean to obese people and now even to people who they feel aren’t labeled “skinny or petite”.. what in the world?

  10. teehee says:

    Why is a 19 yo on the cover like that??

    • Jaye says:

      She’s an adult…it’s not like she’s 14 and showing off her bits. If I had that body, I’d be wearing bikinis just like that to the grocery store, lol!

  11. Marjalane says:

    She’s a pretty girl, wonky eye aside, but the photoshoppin’ on the SI cover was ridiculous.

  12. Sisi says:

    I like her, she’s a model and doesn’t try to be anything other than that. She doesn’t take herself too seriously and tries to keep things fun. I can appreciate that.

    and about the lady of victoria’s secret: what’s makes her think her brand is so upmarket and high fashion? lol…
    Btw. Kate Upton is far more suitable for VSFS than Karlie Kloss. That girl was miscast imo this year.

    • Minty says:

      I agree with everything you wrote.

      Victoria’s Secret is overrated, and their “fashion” show gets more and more ludicrous every year. Just because some powerful people in the fashion industry think Karlie or whomever is red hot doesn’t make it true for the rest of us.

  13. FeverDream says:

    This girl has pulled off the greatest coup of the fashion industry in recent memory.

    She is just NOT model attractive!

    She looks like a pretty girl you’d see at the mall or a pro sports event or at hooters.

    SI cover? Walking runways? Giving sound bites?

    Are these people serious?

    Nothing but hype.
    Good on her but I’m not going to buy magazines or clothes because she’s the ubermodel she has been pretending to be in her bedroom since 13.

    I need to put the principles of the Secret to work in my life because I swear this girl just made it her ambition to be recognized as a model and brought it to fruition by sheer will.

    • Zelda says:

      Yep. She’s totally the prettiest girl at the tailgaing party.

      Don’t get the hoopla.

    • Noi says:

      and where do you think they find model’s? other then at the mall & etc do tell
      please explain what is model attractive. from what i know it’s all about bone structure,height,weight.
      anywho
      it really doesn’t matter as long as the powers that be like her

      • FeverDream says:

        Lol Noi, I’m sorry if I’ve made you uncomfortable with my comment-

        but she does not look like a super model to me. She does not look like a SI cover girl to me.
        I live next door to an Ivy university and watch girls who look taller, leaner, more polished, more delicate, more graceful and more unique cross the street every single day.

        She looks common and like she should be in Playboy *maybe* – not walking a cat walk. I’m just not impressed and if I saw her in an advertisement in the pages of Vogue she doesn’t have a look that would really capture my eye.

        Go watch some clips of the Victoria’s Secret fashion show and come back and tell me if she’s the caliber of those ladies as far as models go.

        Stone cold truth. She’s a pretty girl- a beautiful girl. She’s not a spectacular or impressive model.

        Oh and actually it does matter what I think and what you think – we’re consumers. They’re using her to sell.

        If we don’t buy it- and don’t buy the product either, her 15 minutes are up. Speak for yourself.

      • Noi says:

        @FeverDream
        late but better than never
        anywho
        where did you get im uncomfortable what you said? im no fan of hers but i think all this budget talk of her is unnecessary.

        again it’s not what you like it’s what the owners of said company like.i really implore you to look up super models many aren’t pretty.being to pretty comes off commercial to the fashion world.

        I really don’t get the common look comment. way to be snarky and put down the unfortunate ppl who look “common”.

      • FeverDream says:

        Noi, you’re being too sensitive about this.

        I’m not being snarky- its my opinion and I’m entitled to it.

        Models, actors, entertainers – they are judged by their appearance every day.
        If I saw her at Starbucks I’d be like “pretty lady” and I certainly wouldn’t call her common to her face.

        But as it stands she has put herself out there as a PROFESSIONAL MODEL – meaning she is open to criticism of her beauty.

        Just because someone feeds it to us doesn’t mean that a consumer can’t think otherwise.

        I think she has a plain face and I don’t want to see her in magazines. If I do see her in magazines I’ll flip the page, bored.

        End of story.

        Have a great day!

  14. Lisa says:

    Why shouldn’t she be happy, she is 19 and a bikini model. If I were her, i would pretty much be living in a bikini.

  15. lily says:

    She doesn’t have curves!!! Big boobs does NOT mean curves! Having an hour glass figure means curvy. This chick is straight shaped…no curves

  16. Dawn says:

    People need to leave her alone, she looks great and she is still a kid. Why do so many people want girls to look like boys, curves are good like it or not, it indicates a healthy body and the fact this girl acknowledges it and loves them it also indicates a healthy mind.

  17. ella says:

    How anybody can criticize her body, I don’t understand.

    But that cover was absolutely horrible and cheap-looking, there’s no denying that.

    Obviously, it’s not her fault but whoever did the styling and Photoshopping on that cover should be fired. I’m actually surprised to see that in “real life” she looks pretty and fresh-faced.

  18. Jayna says:

    She is very young and sweet and has a body to die for. Don’t hate on her. At least she isn’t pretentious.

  19. spinner says:

    She strikes me as the kind of girl who shouldn’t be in that cut-throat business. Hopefully she will be ok.

    • kit says:

      I was thinking the same thing.
      She seems too sweet and naive. I think most girls in the fashion world are way more blase and jaded @ 19 than she is. Hopefully, she has a strong support group around her.

  20. Ruby Red Lips says:

    Jesus WTF!! she is healthy and still a very slim girl…

    How f*cked up is the world when she is critized for being non skeletal!!!??

    Grhhhhh! No wonder so many young girls struggle with their bodies and image!!

    She is probably still slimmer than 90% of the population!!! Sorry makes me very angry to read cr*p like this! She looks slim and healthy and happy!

  21. GlitterSha says:

    Celebitchy, Really? with this story? This is pretty vapid. Teetering on or below ‘In Touch’ -rate, non-story, fluff.

  22. hateonit. says:

    how is she so special? I mean she’s sweet and totally harmless but she’s so….regular. I’m not being a hater cuz I don’t find her ugly I just see girls like her all the time :/ I don’t find her breath taking….which I honestly think models should be. we should desire to look like them….IMO. Id rather look like me than her there’s nothing I could want from her.

    • Katija says:

      Yeah – this will get a lot of “ADMIT IT YOU’RE JEALOUS” replies… but she looks like she could be any of my spoiled little Mac-makeup’d and VS Pink’d students, honestly. All lovely girls, but… the makeup, ensemble, and hair bleach is doing most of the work.

      **Feel it necessary to clarify that I am talking about undergraduates in college, not high school students. Otherwise it’s mildly creepy.

    • Noi says:

      i don’t get the fact you think she has to be special to get attention it’s the ppl that hired her that makes this possible
      i can’t see why some ppl don’t get that

  23. mel says:

    She’s pretty!!!

  24. gee_gee says:

    Jeebus. Who asked this skinny girl to defend her alleged “curves”?

  25. lol says:

    ehhh curves? I guess she wants in on ther weight controversey too.. You know they gotta cover all angles. Its all getting boring.. CURVES??? OK THEN!!!

  26. Stacy Dresden says:

    I like her and I think she is just gorgeous.

  27. janie says:

    Does it anyone else find it odd that she can’t drink yet, but has been posing in her underwear for a year? This country’s laws make no sense.

    And she seems like a nice girl but curves don’t mean just boobs!! She’s straight up and down. I have a much curvier waist and hips than her, but I guess I’m not “curvy” because I’m small-chested?

  28. Mary jones says:

    Shes meh. Not model pretty by any means just average. I dont get the hype.

  29. Ambergesa says:

    She has curves, big boobs check, hips and thighs that curve out from a smaller waist check. When did the word curves get co-opted to fat? There are different kinds of curves from delicate to voluptuous. But to say she doesn’t have them is as ridiculous as criticizing her for having to much. She does have a beautiful body. I myself have way to many curves as I’m approaching my 6th month prego.

  30. Happy21 says:

    I think she has a great bod but I don’t see anything special about her that would get her the SI cover. She just looks like the pretty girl down the road who has been blessed with the bod I don’t have. Nothing special really.

    I’m not hating on her, I’m just saying I don’t get the hype.

  31. layla says:

    Amazing body.
    Average face.

  32. the original bellaluna says:

    It’s like kicking a puppy; just like it is with Jessica. They may be naive, a little ignorant about the world, but they’re harmless.

    It’s not like they’re trying to take over the world, a la the Kartrashian Klan.

  33. Tweakspotter says:

    Sorry I’m not seeing the “curves” but she’s pretty so what’s the big deal? She’s hardly the worst SI has had on their cover.

  34. KsGirl says:

    This woman is gorgeous and has a bangin body. And she’s definitely in the healthy-girl-next-door tradition and not the gaunt-high-fashion tradition. Which, you know, is totally fine! Criticizing her for not being runway material is like criticizing one of the runway models for not being SI material. It’s not what they’re trying to do.

    The criticism of Kate is so effed up. And that Vic Secret woman, trying to act like somehow Vic Secret is upmarket or classy? Victoria’s Secret?! Really?

    • hateonit. says:

      I do think it’s upsetting the way VS shunned her. that was unnecessary. but on the other hand given the business of modeling it was expected. I would rather have any of the VS models bodies than a runway body any day. but she doesn’t have curves. most models don’t they’re usually sticks. the only model I know that has curvature is Candice from VS. there’s no hatred to her as a person. it’s just she seems too normal to be in a business where you have to be more than that to make it. I still wanna know how she got her big break.

  35. Rita says:

    She’s a very pretty girl with boobs and hips which is quite different than what’s been passed off the last several years as the “preferred” female form….she’s a nice change. Probably won’t last long though.

  36. Kim says:

    Its not her body that doesnt cut it its her face. She is cute but not supermodel material. Her looks are average at best. She isnt unique or gorgeous just very average girl next door look.

    I cant imagine seeing her past this year. I think she got very lucky with Sports Illustrated and this is her 15 mins. but she certainly doesnt now, nor will she, have a long term modeling career

  37. Camille (The original) says:

    What curves?

    And she looks like a slightly wonk eyed version of Brooklyn Decker.

  38. Me says:

    And since when does “curves” only apply to overweight women? I dont she was saying she is “heavier” I think she is being misinterpreted. She does have curves.

  39. Alexis says:

    I mean, we wouldn’t even be questioning her face if she was a skeleton like she’s “supposed to be.”

    And curves don’t have to mean plus size. She is skinny, but she has curves. Plus size women can have lovely bodies too, and there should be more of them in the media. But “curvy” girls like Beyonce, ScarJo, JLo, and Upton here (and frankly, the 1990s supermodels in their heyday) have their place, too.

    I don’t think Upton’s perfect, but I’ll praise her all day if it means we get to see more people with sexy, thin bodies rather than skeletons in our magazines and on the runway.

    It’s the female hate like a lot of what I see above is why we keep on seeing starving 15 year olds in ads, etc. NOT HOT.

  40. marie says:

    I think she looks great. She’s not a skinny run way model (thank God) and looks fit.

  41. teehee says:

    I still think she is too young. I notice how everyone is also referring ot her here as “girl”- she’s just a kid, granted one year over the legal limit. What bothers me is that 40 year old men stare at that picture. Why are they marketing a 19 yo to those old men??? Just WHY. I dont care if shes legal!

    • Alexis says:

      I’m not that concerned about this. I like that she’s healthy, and I’m not asking to get everything at once from one cover model. Besides, she could easily pass for 25. Not sure if you think that’s better vis-a-vis 40something creepers, but there’s that.

  42. Gaia132 says:

    I think her face is Meh. Just a typical blonde and her eyes are wonky. But at least she’s not sickly skinny.

  43. Jajajajaja says:

    She is really not attractive at all.

  44. Twez says:

    I’m surprised no one is ragging on her natural tits as “saggy” since breast augmentation has completely changed people’s expectation of what boobs are supposed to look like.

  45. biteme says:

    i dont like her eyes they seem dead

  46. Chrissy says:

    She doesn’t have much in the way of “curves” besides the boobs. She’s pretty thin, but she is very untoned. Usually I think women look better a bit soft, but not in her case. She really doesn’t have much muscle tone and that actually makes her kind of shapeless. She also has a kind of wonky eye situation.

  47. Maya says:

    Anyone know where the purple dress is from? I really like it!

  48. Jaxx says:

    I wouldn’t even have recognized her as the girl on the cover. She looks completely different in the other photos. What I’d like to know is how they made her boobs flatten out like that when she’s standing up. They’d pancake out like that if she were lying down but standing? I don’t get it.

    She’s a pretty girl but I think what people are trying to say is that she doesn’t have that something extra that takes a girl from pretty to supermodel outstanding.

  49. Isa says:

    Oh, she really does have a wonkey eye. I thought it was just the last set of pictures.
    She looks 100x better in these shots than she does on that awful cover. Why on Earth did they pick that one?

    • Jaxx says:

      Her wonky eye is really noticable isn’t it? Everyone has one eye smaller than the other, but some are more obvious than others. Usually people like her have surgery done to correct it. I suspect if she continues in the modeling world she will be sent to a doctor soon.

  50. G says:

    I like Kate. She is gorgeous. Not a thing wrong with her.

  51. Rdewful says:

    Well, I think she’s a cute enough girl but the swimsuit issue cover? Absolutely not! Sorry si but you def got it wrong this year. Usually your covers are awesome and I look at the model and think “wow…hot!!!!” I def don’t think that of this one. My favorite cover was Elsa Benitez in 2001. That was a gorgeous cover photo with a drop dead gorgeous woman on it. I just don’t get that from this cover. Sorry si!