Camille Kostek is welcoming the newest member of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit “sisterhood” into the fold.
The SI Swimsuit alum, 30, gave Mady Dewey the surprise of a lifetime on Monday, revealing she had been named the winner of the publication’s annual Swim Search, four years after Kostek herself had been named a rookie.
“You know that being part of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit is so much more than shooting for the magazine,” Kostek told Dewey over Zoom, according to SI.com.
“They call it a swim sisterhood when we’re a part of this, not because of the Swim Search community, but you don’t really know a rookie from a vet. So I really hope you got to feel that at Swim Week,” she continued. “You might have to practice a little more in the mirror because you have your rookie shoot coming up for 2023.”
As Kostek continued her call with Dewey, who uttered, “you’re kidding,” the “Dancing With Myself” host then shared, “Congratulations, you are the Swim Search winner and one of our newest rookies for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2023. Welcome to the family!”
Dewey, the 25-year-old founder of the social platform Herd, which enables users to post images without metrics, recently walked in Sports Illustrated’s fashion show for Miami Swim Week. She previously told the publication that Kostek, who covered the iconic mag in 2019, inspired her to enter the modeling search.
“I’ve been a fan of SI Swimsuit since I was 14 years old, but I never thought that it was something that I would be able to do until I saw Camille Kostek,” Dewey said. “Seeing her go through the Swim Search process with a similar body type to mine changed everything. And I loved how she spoke about how she had never had the opportunity to model before, but it had always been a dream for her. It’s very similar to my story.”
Kostek, who is the longtime girlfriend of newly retired NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski, appeared in this year’s issue, in which she was photographed aboard a boat in St. Croix.
