Martha Stewart Gets Playful In Swimsuit For Behind-The-Scenes Clip Of Sports Illustrated Cover Shoot

May 17, 2023

Martha Stewart has been a prevalent figure in the home and lifestyle industry as she has been successful in multiple professions and endeavors over the course of her life. Most notably, Martha has gained success through various business ventures, publishing opportunities, merchandising, and electronic commerce. Martha has hosted her own television shows and has also written for many magazines and newspapers, as well as authoring her own cookbooks, which quickly became bestsellers. 

With such a long-lasting career, it’s amazing that the talented and busy woman has found the time to connect with her fans on various social media platforms. Despite being one of America’s sweethearts and one of the kindest people in the hospitality world, Martha has been known to shock people with her adventurous ways every now and then. She definitely has not let her age stand in the way of showing off her true colors.

Recently, she has taken to Instagram to show off her incredible features in seductive photographs. While Martha’s 2020 photo of her pushing out her lips alluringly while sitting in a swimming pool went viral, a new photo from 2021 has captured the same energy and has garnered just as much attention.

Martha does not act like the typical woman of that age, as she has continued to showcase her sweet yet sultry personality while posting some thirst traps to her Instagram account. Her selfies have swept social media users off their feet as she has continued to shock people with seductive photographs.

And at 81, she turned the heat up a notch by claiming a coveted spot in history as one of Sports Illustrated's celebrated cover models!

Born as Martha Helen Kostyra on Aug. 3, 1941, Martha grew up in the state of New Jersey. Her family is of Polish descent, and she was raised Catholic. At the age of 3, the family moved from Jersey City, New Jersey, to Nutley, New Jersey, where she later worked as a babysitter for many of the players of the New York Yankees, such as Mickey Mantle, Yogi Berra, and Gil McDougald.

As she got a little older, Martha began modeling and was featured in a television commercial for Unilever, a British company known for its food, energy drinks, cleaning products, and beauty products. She continued to pick up small campaigns for Chanel here and there throughout her time at Barnard College of Columbia University as well.

Martha talked about her days as a model during an interview with People in November 2020. “I signed with Ford Models and was immediately signed up for TV commercials,” she explained. “I was the all-American girl.” Despite her work in the fashion industry, Martha had a hard time seeing herself as beautiful. “I was so skinny and so perfect for modeling, but I didn’t know that I was beautiful,” she revealed.

“I knew that I could model, I knew I could pose for pictures, but I was not sexy, and I was not provocative.”

The influence her parents had on her as a young girl helped her later on in life with her extremely successful career. Martha’s mother was the one who taught her how to cook and sew, while her father helped her develop a passion for gardening. Martha also learned about the process of canning and preserving while visiting her grandparents in Buffalo, New York.

During her time at college, Martha met a man named Andrew Stewart, a recent graduate of Yale Law School. The two hit it off and dated before tying the knot in July 1961. A year later, Martha finished her studies and graduated with a double major in history and architectural history. Shortly after, the couple had their first and only child together, Alexis Stewart, who was born on Sept. 27, 1965. Once their daughter grew up, she also attended Barnard College and majored in English before becoming a television host and radio personality in her own right.

While Martha began her own career as a stockbroker, her husband founded a publishing house and served as the chief executive. The family decided to move to Westport, Connecticut, where Martha’s talents in decorating quickly became apparent as they worked on restoring and remodeling a farmhouse. In 1976, Martha decided to redirect her talents in the hospitality department to the food industry, and she started her own catering business straight out of her own basement.

Andrew was incredibly supportive of her new business venture, and he even hired her company to cater a book release party for a book his company published, “The Secret Book of Gnomes” by Will Hyugen and Rien Poortvliet. At the party, Martha met the head of the Crown Publishing Group, Alan Mirken, and the two instantly hit it off. Mirken enjoyed Martha’s work as a chef and a hostess so much that he helped her develop her very own cookbook, “Entertaining,” which was later released in December 1982.

Martha seemed to have found her niche, and she released plenty more cookbooks, including “Martha Stewart’s Quick Cook” in 1983, “Martha Stewart’s Pies & Tarts” in 1992, and “Martha Stewart’s Christmas” in 1989, as well as many others. Along with all of her impressive work in the book industry, Martha also showed off even more of her talents and wrote for plenty of newspapers and magazines with articles about homemaking. Her success was so recognized by others that it led to her appearing on various television programs such as “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and “Larry King Live.”

Unfortunately, life wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies for the up-and-coming star. Her relationship with Andrew was not going so well anymore, and the two separated in 1987, with their divorce being finalized in 1990. Martha didn’t have much time to mourn her fallen relationship as she was quickly back to work with the development of her own magazine, “Martha Stewart Living.” Due to the extreme popularity of the magazine, in 1993, it was enhanced with the production of a weekly half-hour television show, also titled “Martha Stewart Living.” Much like the magazine, the show quickly became popular with many people across the United States. It was broadcast every day, with the weekday shows being one hour long and the weekend shows being half an hour long.

The birth of a new company named Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (MSLO) happened in the late 1990s when Martha and her business partner Sharon Patrick consolidated their respective business ventures in television, print, and merchandising into one. It went public in 1999. While Patrick worked as the Chief Operations Officer, Martha was the star of the company and worked as the president, CEO, and chairwoman.

During the 2000s, Martha had even more projects in the works. Partnering with Kmart, she sold pieces from the Martha Stewart Everyday line from MSLO, including ready-made home furnishings. In 2005, she launched “The Martha Stewart Show” and released a book titled “The Martha Rules,” which was about starting and managing a new business. She continued to flourish with an abundance of work and released an upscale line of housewares that was sold at Macy’s starting in September 2007. Martha created a strong relationship with Macy’s and has since designed and launched more than 2,000 items exclusively for the retailer.

Continuing with her business partnerships, Martha’s company and the Hallmark Channel teamed up in January 2010 for a multi-year deal. Her daytime TV series was renamed “Martha,” and appeared on the Hallmark Channel in September that year, although it only lasted on the network for two seasons, and aired its final episode in May 2012. Over the years, Martha also has guest-starred on a number of TV shows and also launched her own gardening show called “Martha Knows Best” in July 2020.

While talking with Artful Living, Martha explained how she’s been able to be so successful and stay relevant as she gets older. “I think my secret is that I’m always learning and trying to absorb more information,” she said. “My curiosity has never stopped, and it keeps me going in my life and in my business.” The business mogul provided readers with some advice on how they, too, could live a life of luxury. “Look for opportunities around you and start with your own expertise, whether it’s your vocation or avocation,” Martha said. “Defend your ideas, but be flexible. Success seldom comes in exactly the form you imagine it will.”

Martha revealed her approach to business, beauty, and everyday life during an interview with People in November 2020. “I have survived the rigors of time, of marriage, of childbearing, of building a business from scratch,” she said. “I have survived very nicely, and I think I make the most of it.” While women today are still working to make their voices heard at home, in the workplace, and all other areas of life, Martha surprisingly had it easy when it came to being one of the free women in the New York Stock Exchange.

“I didn’t even know what a glass ceiling was until somebody explained it to me, because being a woman and being a businesswoman was all one and the same to me,” Martha said.

Her days in the modeling industry were definitely put to good use based on the attire Martha wore to work. She wrote hot pants, which were very tiny shorts “where you see plenty of leg and a little bit of your butt,” Martha explained during an interview with Harper’s Bazaar in February 2021. “And I looked great in them.” Her fashion sense was impeccable, as she also wore high-heeled shoes or boots and made sure to prop her feet up on her desk to show them off.

Since she was so successful in the business world, one might wonder what made Martha decide to switch up her career so drastically. The answer is actually quite simple. “I was lured to the home,” Martha said. Luckily for Martha, she made the right decision. “I was the first self-made female billionaire,” she happily explained. “I had opposition, and that kind of opposition to a woman-built business was really outrageous.” 

Martha defied the odds and broke boundaries when she quickly skyrocketed to success with her own company, and she has since inspired women all around the world to work on achieving their own goals. “I think I helped so many other women believe in their own ideas and their own business plans and their paths to glory,” Martha said.

Something else plenty of women have struggled with is coming to terms with aging, as society’s standards can be pretty brutal and hard to meet. Just like her days working as a stockbroker, Martha has accepted aging with nothing but grace and conviction as she has completely come into her own.

“There’s nothing tough about being 79, other than a number that stares you in the face,” she said.

The innovative woman has certainly not shied away from the spotlight as she has continued to age and even posted a seductive selfie to Instagram in July 2020 with her lips pursed and her eyes making direct contact with the camera while sitting in her swimming pool. Much like everything else Martha has done during her career, the selfie was a hit with people and went viral and has since received over 240,000 likes.

“I took a pool selfie photo by mistake,” Martha admitted. “I was trying to take a picture of the beautiful turquoise planter at the end of the pool, but the camera was on me, so I just snapped it. It looked so good, so I posted it.” By doing so, Martha sent people all over the world into a frenzy with the scandalous nature of the photo. “I didn’t know what a ‘thirst trap’ was, but now I do,” she explained. “Now I’m looking for the next thirst trap.”

It took almost a year to happen, but Martha then posted her second thirst trap. On May 20, 2021, Martha shared another sultry photo where she once again pursed her lips out into the perfect pout. Martha looked absolutely beautiful in a gold dress accessorized with a big pearl necklace around her neck. Just a day later, Martha uploaded yet another picture of herself in the same outfit, but this time it was a close-up of the famous woman. Rather than luring viewers in with her glossy lips, Martha showed off her alluring eyes by making direct eye contact with the camera.

What’s the secret to her stunning looks at her age?

“I work primarily with two very excellent dermatologists, who are very conversative about anything that they would do to my face,” Martha answered. “A little Juvederm injections here or there every now and then, maybe twice a year, and that’s basically the skin treatments that I get.”

This slight cosmetic work, along with a healthy diet and great genetics, have all blessed Martha with glowing skin and an overall beautiful appearance. The culinary icon never fails to serve up stunning and classy looks, whether in person or while making appearances on screen.  

Martha has really done it all, as she has conquered almost every avenue she has set her sights on. From the world of television to publishing to business and everything in between, it seems like there is nothing Martha can’t do. On top of all of this, the 81-year-old has now made history by becoming the oldest model to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine.

Martha appeared on the “Today Show” on May 15, 2023, to share her latest venture – and it had nothing to do with cooking, crafting or gardening. Instead, she revealed details about her making her historic mark as a Sports Illustrated cover girl, a title typically associated with young models and Hollywood starlets. 

Martha said she was approached about appearing on the cover in November 2022.

“You know, that was kind of a request I have never had before,” Martha said and added, “And to be on the cover at my age was a challenge. I think I met the challenge.”

But Martha didn’t just meet the challenge – she absolutely dominated it. The cover photo showed the icon in a white swimsuit with a plunging neckline and gold cover-up. 

As for the honor of becoming the magazine’s oldest cover model, Martha boiled it down to “a testament to good living.” She continued:

“I think that all of us should think about good living, successful living and not about aging. The whole aging thing is so boring.”

In a promotional video for the shoot, Martha quipped:

“Usually I’m motivated by pay. But this time, I was motivated by showing people that a woman my age can still look good, feel good, be good.”

Martha also shared some playful, behind-the-scenes footage for the shoot on Instagram.

“Ten bathing suits, hair has to look different,” she explained while looking stunning in a beige one-piece. “Body has to look different. Hair up? I think so.”

Among the pieces Martha wore were a plunging red halter swimsuit, a baby blue suit, and a sporty metallic black-and-silver zip-up suit.

Fans were left gobsmacked by Martha and commented on how great she looked. One comment read:

“Reminder that this woman is 81, you guys. 81!!!!!!”

What do you think about Martha Stewart landing a Sports Illustrated cover? Were you surprised by the looks she served in the photos? Let us know, and be sure to send this to your family and friends to find out what they think, too.