Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Camille Kostek felt insecure over her curves: 'It's discouraging'

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Model Camille Kostek talks Sports Illustrated, cheerleading

Camille Kostek opens up about her opportunity to be a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model and the hard work that went into being a New England Patriots cheerleader.

Camille Kostek says she faced major obstacles before becoming Sports Illustrated Swimsuit’s newest cover girl.

The former Patriots cheerleader admitted that as a model and dancer, she sometimes felt insecure about her now-famous curves.

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“There’s definitely been times when I’ve been on sets and I was the bigger model in the room, where they’re casting girls,” the 27-year-old told People magazine on Wednesday. “It’s discouraging, it’s really, really hard to have thick skin through a lot of that stuff. The looks. The questions you get.”

The blonde bombshell shared that after she learned to embrace her figure, she not only gained confidence but her career quickly started to blossom.

“As soon as I changed my mind perception, my life literally changed,” Kostek explained. “My love life changed, my day-to-day life changed, my self-love with myself changed, my career started changing. The dynamic when I would walk into a room, even if I wasn’t the thinnest model in the room, changed. Confidence is everything, and the way you carry yourself, your posture, eye contact, all of that is such a big role in impressions, regardless of your size.”

Kostek insisted that these days, she doesn’t sweat the small stuff, even if it means stripping down to a skimpy bikini for a photo that will be seen by hundreds across the country.

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“In the past, I felt like I used to beat myself up a little more, just because it was hard to break through,” said Kostek. “I would be like: ‘I want to drop 15 pounds in three weeks and lose an inch and a quarter off my thighs and my hips and my waist and do this and that.’ But that is so contradictory to why I wanted to be in Sports Illustrated. I wanted to be signed in these measurements. Because of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, I can be comfortable in my skin and rock who I am.”

Kostek also credited her boyfriend, former New England Patriots football tight end Rob Gronkowski.

“It’s been a fun time already, and I think one of my favorite things that he ever said was he was excited to take a back seat and check out the things that I was up to like I have for him sitting back in the stands,” she also told Extra TV.

“It’s been a blast,” Kostek continued. “I was cheerleading on the sidelines in the first couple years… I went from cheering him on the sidelines of the Super Bowl to being a proud girlfriend in the crowd to [watching him end] his career on the Super Bowl field… I feel very lucky that I got to be a part of his incredible career.”

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On Wednesday, Sports Illustrated Swimsuit named Kostek, along with Tyra Banks and Alex Morgan as their new cover girls. Banks, 45, first appeared on the cover back in 1996 and returned again in 1997.

Back in March 2018, Kostek told Fox News she always envisioned herself as a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model and believed the magazine offers an empowering message for women.

“If I didn’t think I could be here, I wouldn’t do it,” said Kostek. “It’s been such a refreshing, exciting time for me to model and be represented by a company that embraces women of every shape and size. It’s been so nice to not have that pressure to change just to be on a runway show or photo shoot. That’s exactly what I stand for as a woman and a sister.

"I just want to send the best message possible to women. And I’m just so thankful because I honestly never thought I could model. I’ve always been told I wasn’t tall enough, I wasn’t thin enough. It’s motivating when someone tells you it’s possible to do something that seems impossible.”

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At the time, Kostek shared she was hoping to make a big splash as a model with the help of SI.

“I knew I wanted to step in the modeling world,” said Kostek. “I never took modeling seriously because I was so busy with cheerleading… It was hard to say goodbye, but I knew that part of my life was over. I’ve been doing it since I was three. I was ready for something new. A new challenge.”