Paulina Porizkova, 54, ‘gulped’ when asked to pose for Sports Illustrated without 'any retouching'

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Paulina Porizkova opens up about posing topless for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue at age 53

Czech-born model Paulina Porizkova called it an honor to be invited to pose topless for the 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue at age 53. Last year, Porizkova posed nude for the magazine and penned an 'In Her Own Words' essay for the publication in which she discussed aging.

Paulina Porizkova isn't a stranger in front of the camera, but her latest photoshoot for Sports Illustrated had the veteran model nervous.

The 54-year-old is featured in the upcoming 2019 swimsuit issue and is completely unretouched.

Porizkova admitted on "Good Morning America" that when she first heard what the magazine's plan was she was scared to do it, but after thinking about it, realized she's happy with the way she looks.

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"When MJ [Day, the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit editor] sent me the pictures she was like, 'So we're not going to do any retouching, just like on the minor, minor things like moles and stuff,'" she explained. "I was like 'gulp,' and it's like well, I look good for 54."

Then Porizkova turned to the audience and said, "But you ladies know that looking good at 54 is not the same as just looking good, right?"

The mother-of-two confessed that sometimes compliments about looking good at a certain age are a double-edged sword.  "It's like the compliment where you get, 'Oh, you still look great,' could you just say, 'You look great?'" she added.

Meanwhile, Day told the morning show that she's proud to feature Porizkova in the magazine because she's "outspoken and honest and she really is an advocate for ageism, which I think is a really important topic to address… Because beauty doesn't end at 30. Beauty doesn't end at 40."

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To which Porizkova said, "I'm going to give a lot of credit to MJ Day from Sports Illustrated."

"When she got into her position she really started expanding the notion in Sports Illustrated — that's where people go to see beautiful young women — and she really started expanding the idea that it's not just models size 2 to 4 that are pretty, but hey, they could be size 10 to 20," the stunner added.

Porizkova made her Sports Illustrated debut in 1983 at age 17. The following year, she graced the cover and appeared in the publication six more times. Porizkova was also featured in the magazine in 2018, where she posed nude for a special feature about female empowerment.