Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Christen Harper reveals body image struggles

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Christen Harper reveals she didn’t go to pool parties as a teen because she was too self-conscious about her body.

The 29-year-old, who was crowned co-Rookie Of The Year with Katie Austin in 2022, has opened up to Yahoo Life about how her early modeling career that started when she was aged nine impacted on her.

She makes her return to the publication for the 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue, with Martha Stewart, Megan Fox, Kim Petras and Brooks Nader landing the four covers.

Speaking of her body confidence struggles, Christen, from California, said: ‘I didn’t even go to a pool party in high school because I was too worried about what my body looked like. So it’s funny now that I’m modeling bikinis all over the world.

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Christen Harper reveals she didn’t go to pool parties as a teen because she was too self-conscious about her body

‘Back then it was my worst fear because it was a constant comparison.’

Christen, who also recently co-designed a bikini for B Swim, said she modeled up until she was ’14 or 15′ before she was ‘sized out.’

The model told Yahoo Life that she was eventually dropped by her agency because she ‘didn’t fit into the sample size anymore.’  

‘I remember times on set where they would cut the back of my pants open. The back of my jeans would be just wide open because I couldn’t button them. From the front, you know, it looked like the jeans fit. That’s so embarrassing,’ Christen added.

She said her experiences in the industry changed the way she thought about her body and made her think it was ‘the most important thing’ about her.

And it didn’t get easier when she entered puberty and she was a ‘little curvier’ than her peers.

‘My whole life became about, if I could just lose a little bit of weight, I’ll be happy,’ Christen, who is engaged to NFL star Jared Goff, said.

But things started to change for young Christen with the emergence of Kate Upton who was at the time considered to be representative of a shift in body diversity.

She makes her return to the publication for the 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue

Christen was crowned co-Rookie of the Year with Katie Austin in 2022

She makes her return to the publication for the 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue, with Martha Stewart, Megan Fox, Kim Petras and Brooks Nader landing the four covers

Christen is engaged to NFL star Jared Goff (pictured) who plays for the Detroit Lions

Christen is engaged to NFL star Jared Goff (pictured) who plays for the Detroit Lions

She was crowned co-Rookie Of The Year with Katie Austin (pictured left) in 2022

She was crowned co-Rookie Of The Year with Katie Austin (pictured left) in 2022

She said Kate’s confidence changed the way she saw her own body, but when she started modeling again to pay for college she still wasn’t in a good place with how she looked.

And it didn’t help that agencies continued to tell her she was ‘too big,’ so Christen attempted to ‘shrink’ herself so she could get jobs.

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit unveiled their much-anticipated covers on Monday, with Martha, 81, flaunting her stunning figure as the oldest woman to ever appear on the front of the magazine.

The businesswoman – who called posing for the magazine at her age ‘historic’ – showed off her amazing physique throughout the shoot, donning 10 different swimsuits that left her body on full display.

But things started to change for young Christen with the emergence of Kate Upton who was at the time considered to be representative of a shift in body diversity

But things started to change for young Christen with the emergence of Kate Upton who was at the time considered to be representative of a shift in body diversity

The 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue - with Martha Stewart (pictured), Megan Fox, Kim Petras and Brooks Nader on the four covers - hits stands on May 18

The 2023 SI Swimsuit Issue – with Martha Stewart (pictured), Megan Fox, Kim Petras and Brooks Nader on the four covers – hits stands on May 18

One photo in the magazine – which hits newsstands on May 18 – showed her standing in red one-piece with a plunging neckline, while another featured the 81-year-old smiling towards the camera in a white bathing suit and an orange shawl. 

A different photo showed Martha laying across the beach in a tan, ruffled swimsuit with an oversized straw hat, while a fourth featured the TV personality in the water while wearing a silver, zip-up bathing suit and enormous white sunglasses.

While reflecting on the experience, Martha explained that she ‘doesn’t think about age very much,’ but admitted that being a part of the magazine at 81 was definitely a big deal to her.

‘When I heard that I was going to be on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit, I thought, “Oh, that’s pretty good, I’m going to be the oldest person I think ever on a cover of Sports Illustrated,”‘ she said.

‘And I don’t think about age very much, but I thought that this is kind of historic.’

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