After making history last year as the first Filipina on Victoria’s Secret’s runway, Kelsey Merritt continues her streak in the international fashion scene.
It was recently revealed that the Filipina American supermodel also landed a slot among Sports Illustrated models to be featured on its celebrated annual Swimsuit Issue.
Merritt, who has been residing in New York City to pursue her international modeling career, was officially revealed as part of SI’s official Swimsuit family via Twitter on Sunday.
The 22-year-old stunner from Pampanga, Philippines also revealed that she is now Sports Illustrated’s newest Swimsuit 2019 Rookie via Twitter a day earlier.
“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!!!” she wrote.
The model, whose first issue with the magazine as a rookie will be released in May, took to Instagram to share some images and behind the scenes clips from her recent photo shoot from the Bahamas.
Merritt auditioned for Sports Illustrated in October, a month before walking the Victoria Secret Fashion Show runway in New York, reports the Philippine Star.
“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 during her casting call, as posted by Sports Illustrated Swimsuit on Instagram.
Featured Image via Instagram / kelseymerritt
