Kelsey Merritt is new Sports llustrated Swimsuit 2019 ‘rookie’ model

MANILA, Philippines — After her 2018 Victoria’s Secret Fashion show stint, Filipina-American model Kelsey Meritt was recently graced the cover of American sports magazine Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2019 as their rookie model.

On a Twitter post, Merritt shared the news to her followers.

I’ve been keeping this a secret for a while, and now I’m so excited I get to finally share with you all that I’m the newest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2019 Rookie!!! Ahhh thank you @SI_Swimsuit @mj_day for the opportunity to shoot for this iconic issue!!! ♥????? pic.twitter.com/oMxQLqrE0T

— Kelsey Merritt (@kelsmerritt) February 16, 2019

“I’ve been keeping this a secret for a while, and now I’m so excited I get to finally share with you all that I’m the newest Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2019 Rookie!!! Ahhh thank you @SI_Swimsuit @mj_day for the opportunity to shoot for this iconic issue!!” Merritt said.

Merritt auditioned for the swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated last October, a month before she made history as the first Filipino to walk the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show runway.

During her casting call posted by Sports Illustrated Swimsuit in October, Merritt said she wanted to pose for the magazine because she loves how confident the models are.

"I really want to be a Sports Illustrated model because I love how confident the models are and I want to show everyone who is looking at these pictures and reading the magazine that they can also be confident in their own skin,” Merritt said.

 

 

 

 

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We love @kelseymerritt’s smile and confidence as she wraps her #SISwim 2019 casting!

A post shared by Sports Illustrated Swimsuit (@si_swimsuit) on Oct 16, 2018 at 9:06am PDT

Merrit has been residing in New York City to pursue her modeling career.