Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue 2012: 21 Models Revealed! (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

PHOTOS: The 2012 'Sports Illustrated' Swimsuit Models Revealed!

Due to this wild new invention called The Internet, Monday afternoon saw the early release (a leak, if you will) of the much-anticipated 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue cover, revealing that as expected, Kate Upton is this year's chosen cover model. Congrats, Kate!

But as per tradition, the rest of the models were kept under wraps until Monday night's "Late Show with David Letterman," when ten of the 21 chosen women graced the stage to present Letterman's Top Ten: "Top Ten Reasons This Year's 'Sports Illustrated' Swimsuit Issue Is The Best One Ever."

Announcing the ten reasons:

Julie Henderson

Ariel Meredith ("I licked every issue," she reasoned)

Alyssa Miller

Chrissy Teigen (who promised to personally visit every subscriber)

Genevieve Morton

Izabel Goulart

Jessica Gomes (who shrewdly pointed out, "Where else can you see nearly naked women, except everywhere on the Internet?")

Jessica Perez ("Four of us are married to Newt," she quipped)

Irina Shayk, 2011's covergirl

Kate Upton, 2012 covergirl (who flashed an easygoing sense of humor with her reason: "The art department was able to airbrush my mustache.")

As we mentioned on Monday, Upton was favored to land this year's cover, not mainly for her humor (although we appreciate it) but more for her "blond, all-American looks." Although she was born in Michigan, Upton told AP that she's a Florida girl at heart. "In Florida, people walk around in their flip-flops, bikinis and jean shorts, so I'm very comfortable in a bathing suit," she said.

She would have to be, given the teeny swimsuit she wears on the 2012 Swimsuit Issue cover. See that pic, as well as four other inside shots from the magazine, in the slideshow below. To check out all 21 women -- the aforementioned ten, as well as Anne V, Michelle Vawer, Bar Refaeli, Nina Agdal, Natalie Coughlin, Cintia Dicker, Adaora, Kirby Griffin, Natalie Gulbis, Alex Morgan and Crystal Renn (!) -- head to SportsIllustrated.CNN.com.

<a href="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012_swimsuit/models/alyssa-miller/?xid=aolswim12" target="_hplink" role="link" class=" js-entry-link cet-external-link" data-vars-item-name="Alyssa Miller" data-vars-item-type="text" data-vars-unit-name="5b9b5389e4b03a1dcc76a7cd" data-vars-unit-type="buzz_body" data-vars-target-content-id="http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012_swimsuit/models/alyssa-miller/?xid=aolswim12" data-vars-target-content-type="url" data-vars-type="web_external_link" data-vars-subunit-name="before_you_go_slideshow" data-vars-subunit-type="component" data-vars-position-in-subunit="8">Alyssa Miller</a>

Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2012(CLONED)

Popular in the Community

Close

HuffPost Shopping’s Best Finds

MORE IN LIFE