The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Model Search was a

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show produced by

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters ...

that debuted in January 2005, prior to the launch of that year's ''

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue The ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue is published annually by American magazine ''Sports Illustrated'' and features female fashion models, celebrities and athletes wearing swimwear in various locales around the world. The highly coveted c ...

'' in February.

Premise

The show documented twelve previously unknown fashion models as they competed against one another for a pictorial in the 2005 edition of the ''

'' in addition to a modeling contract with

NEXT Model Management NEXT Management is a modeling and talent agency founded in 1989 by Faith Kates and Joel Wilkenfeld. Next is headquartered in New York City with divisions in London, Los Angeles, Miami, Milan and Paris. Fashion models Notable models currently r ...

worth 1 million

dollars Dollar is the name of more than 20 Currency, currencies. They include the Australian dollar, Brunei dollar, Canadian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, Jamaican dollar, Liberian dollar, Namibian dollar, New Taiwan dollar, New Zealand dollar, Singapore d ...

. The twelve contestants were chosen after NBC and ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twice ...

'' launched a nationwide search of 3,000 women. The finalists were judged on their

photo shoots A photo shoot is the process taken by creatives and models that results in a visual objective being obtained. An example is a model posing for a photographer at a studio or an outdoor location. A photo shoot is a series of images that are taken ...

as well fitness tests. The show's

tagline In entertainment, a tagline (alternatively spelled tag line) is a short text which serves to clarify a thought for, or is designed with a form of, dramatic effect. Many tagline slogans are reiterated phrases associated with an individual, s ...

was "The business of being beautiful is about to get ugly."

Judges

Roshumba Williams Roshumba Williams (born August 1, 1968) is an American supermodel who first became known for her appearance in the '' Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition'' in the early 1990s. She also works as an actress and reality TV show judge. As a teena ...

, former ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Model *Joel Wilkenfeld, president of

* Jule Campbell, founder of the SI Swimsuit Issue and former editor

Contestants

(In order of elimination) Week 1 - Come As You Are *Marcela Ziemiansk *Nancy Stelmaszcyzk *Sabrina Sikora *

Shantel VanSanten Shantel VanSanten (born July 25, 1985) is an American actress and model. As a model, she has been featured in the magazines ''Teen Vogue'' and ''Seventeen''. On television, she played the role of Quinn James in the CW teen drama series ''One Tr ...

Week 2 - 70s Shoot * Adaora Akubilo * Stella Diaz Week 3 - Freeze Frame *Krisi Ballentine *Betti Formeus Week 4 - Runway *Jenna Spilde Week 5 - Final Shoot *Stacy Klimek *Shannon Hughes (runner-up) *

Alicia Hall Alicia Hall (born December 2, 1985) is an American model who won NBC's 2005 reality TV show '' Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search''. Early life Hall was raised in Las Vegas, Nevada, and by the age of seven, becoming a swimsuit model wa ...

(winner)

''Sports Illustrated'' Swim Search

In 2017, the issue hosted its first ever open casting call where aspirants were asked to submit a 60-second video via

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

. The three-part series called ''Sports Illustrated Swim Search'' which documented the first ever open casting call with

Camille Kostek Camille Veronica Kostek (born February 19, 1992) is an American model, television host, and actress. She gained recognition for her appearances in the ''Sports Illustrated'' Swimsuit Issue, and achieved further prominence after landing a cover ...

as a winner (becoming a cover model in 2019) premiered on SI TV and

Amazon Prime Video Amazon Prime Video, also known simply as Prime Video, is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming and rental service of Amazon offered as a standalone service or as part of Amazon's Prime subscription. The service p ...

in February 2018. The following year, the model search held an in-person open casting call in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...

, and has been held annually since. The 2019 show of finalists was characterized as the magazine's most diverse group of models in its history, featuring among others 55-year-old model Kathy Jacobs,

alopecia Hair loss, also known as alopecia or baldness, refers to a loss of hair from part of the head or body. Typically at least the head is involved. The severity of hair loss can vary from a small area to the entire body. Inflammation or scarr ...

sufferer Christie Valdiserri, and plus-sized model Ashley Alexiss.

References

External links