The “Sports Illustrated” Swimsuit issue is always filled with pages of beautiful faces and bodies, and they’re almost always long, lean and young. But this year? The magazine will include their “oldest and shortest” rookie ever. Model Kathy Jacobs is five-feet, three-inches and she’s making her debut at age 57.
She got the job after coming to an open casting call when she was 56 and she says it’s a dream come true. Jacobs was a petite model in the 80s when models had to be super tall, so she feels like being in the magazine is a win, not just for women of a certain age, but for the short girls, too. She was actually born the same month and year the first “Sports Illustrated” Swimsuit issue hit stands - January 1964 - and now she gets to be the groundbreaker with both her age and height.
Jacobs says it’s a huge honor to represent women in her age range and that she’s gotten so much support from women who are afraid of getting older. “Being in this magazine really is a ripple effect. It gives people my age that stamp of approval to feel beautiful and sexy,” she explains. “Life doesn’t have to stop when you age.”