Biography[]
Katherine Elizabeth "Kate" Upton is an American model, actress, and boxer, known for her appearances in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. Upton was named Rookie of the Year following her first appearance in 2011, and was the cover model for the 2012, 2013 and 2017 issues. She was also the subject of the 100th-anniversary Vanity Fair cover. Upton has also appeared in the films Tower Heist (2011) and The Other Woman (2014).
Upton attended a casting call in Miami for Elite Model Management in 2008 and was signed the same day. She eventually moved to New York City, where she then signed with IMG Models. Upton first modeled clothing for Garage and Dooney & Bourke. She was the 2010–11 face of Guess. In 2011, Upton appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue. She was featured in the body paint section and named Rookie of the Year for that issue. She has since modeled for Beach Bunny Swimwear, and has appeared in Complex and Esquire as "The Woman of the Summer". Upton wore one of the Beach Bunny suits in the 2014 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.
Upton made an appearance in a June 2011 episode of Tosh.0 and participated in the 2011 Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, in July 2011. Upton's acting debut was in the film, Tower Heist, as Mr. Hightower’s mistress. It was released in November 2011.
Upton appeared on the cover of the 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, released in February 2012. She has also recounted the negative aftereffects of the 2012 Sports Illustrated cover, as she was subjected to criticism and felt she had been objectified.
Upton has appeared in editorials for American, Italian, British, Spanish, German, and Brazilian Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, V, Mademoiselle, LOVE, Italian, German, and American GQ, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, and Esquire. She has appeared on the covers of Italian, American, and British Vogue, French and American Elle, American, Italian, and German GQ, Esquire, and Vanity Fair. She has appeared in advertising campaigns for David Yurman, Sam Edelman, Betsey Johnson, Guess?, Victoria's Secret, Express, and Bare Necessities. Since 2014, she has been the face of Bobbi Brown cosmetics.
In 2012, she was ranked the fifth-sexiest model by Models.com. She ranked #3 on the American publication of AskMen's Top 99 Women for 2013. In 2012, she was listed on Maxim's Hot 100 list, citing her photo shoots with Sports Illustrated.
Upton was the cover model for the 2013 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue for the second consecutive year. Parts of her 2013 Sports Illustrated pictorial were filmed in Antarctica and Upton suffered from failing hearing and eyesight due to the extreme cold.
After getting the November 2012 Vogue Italia cover photographed by Steven Meisel and the January 2013 Vogue UK cover, Upton landed the June 2013 Vogue cover by Mario Testino. She was then photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the October 2013 100th anniversary cover of Vanity Fair. In September 2013, Upton was named Model of the Year at the 10th annual Style Awards at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York.
Upton appeared on the flip-side cover of the 2014 50th-anniversary Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, the first time that type of cover was used by that magazine. Part of her shoot took place at Cape Canaveral, capturing her in zero gravity.
In 2014, Upton starred with Tony Hale in Lady Antebellum's music video "Bartender". People named Upton its "Sexiest Woman" for 2014, the first time the title has been awarded. Also in 2014, Upton was the centerpiece of a $40 million advertising campaign for Machine Zone's mobile app Game of War: Fire Age.
While working with Victoria's Secret in 2012, Upton was rejected from taking the part in brand's famous annual fashion show. Victoria's Secret's casting director Sophia Neophitou majorly snubbed then-rising star, telling the New York Times that VS would "never use her. She’s like a footballer’s wife, with the too-blond hair and that kind of face that anyone with enough money can go out and buy." In a bizarre turn of events, Victoria's Secret then went on to publish an old photo of Upton on the back of its catalogue.
Campaigns:
Accessorize, Bare Necessities, Beach Bunny, Betsey Johnson, Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Bon Prix, David Yurman, Dooney & Bourke, Dylan George, GUESS?, GUESS? accessories, GUESS? lingerie, Jenna Leigh, Redemption Choppers, RYGY Sport Swimwear, Sam Edelman, Victoria's Secret.
Fashion Shows:
Ready-To-Wear - Spring/Summer 2011 { Beach Bunny }
Ready-To-Wear - Spring/Summer 2012 { Beach Bunny, Liverpool Fashion Fest }
Ready-To-Wear - Spring/Summer 2014 { Louis Vuitton }
Ready-To-Wear - Spring/Summer 2018 { Michael Kors }
Skills and Abilities[]
Expert Model: Kate has been a professional swimsuit model for years and she has shown to be very proficient in it. She is one of the most popular swimsuit models in the world.
Heightened Physical Attributes: Kate trains rigorously and follows a strict training regiment to keep her goddess-like body in shape. Some of the abilities she's acquired from training are:
- Lightning Reflexes: Kate's reaction time is ridiculously fast and she can easily respond to any situation or fight.
- Limitless Stamina: Kate no longer tires from doing any physical activity. She can train and fight for hours without feeling tired.
- Increased Speed: Sprinting every day has increased Kate's average speed. She can now run at least 15 mi/hr.
- Perfect Endurance: Kate can endure any form of stress and pain after experiencing her hellish training sessions. No one can hurt her.
- Superhuman Strength: Strength training and lifting heavy weights has caused Kate to develop herculean levels of strength. She can lift 1,000 lbs with ease and a max of 2,000 lbs. Because of her godlike strength, Kate always breaks the punching bag whenever she uses it. A popular theory among men is that her strength actually stems from her humongous breasts.
Expert Boxer/Kickboxer: Kate's training regimen involves boxing and kickboxing. After training the grueling sports for a long time, Kate has become a master in these styles of fighting. Her mastery of boxing/kickboxing, combined with her superhuman physical traits, has made her the deadliest fighter in all of the world. Any poor, unsuspecting man who thinks Kate is just a weak girl is left as a bloody and broken unrecognizable mess after Kate mercilessly destroys him in a fight. Her tendency to leave her opponents like this and destroying any man mercilessly in a fight has earned her the title "Killer Kate".
Expert Wrestler: Like boxing and kickboxing, Kate has practiced wrestling and has completely mastered all of its techniques. She uses these techniques, along with her goddess-like strength, to decimate her opponents and leave them in a world of pain.
Trivia[]
- Kate is also an expert boxer and practices a lot.
- She has a powerful uppercut that her victims call "Upton Uppercut".
- Her fighter name is "Killer Kate".
- She has a perfect undefeated boxing record of 100W-0D-0L and has won all of her fights with a knockout in the first round using her Upton Uppercut.
- Every man who was dumb and foolish enough to challenge Kate to a fight and get in the ring with her ended up with two black eyes, a broken nose and jaw, and most or all of his teeth missing.
- No man has ever survived more than one round against Kate in the ring.
- The men's world heavyweight champion in boxing stated he's glad he doesn't have to fight Kate since he'd just end up as another victim. He also stated if he ever did have to fight her, he'd forfeit his belt since he doesn't want to experience Kate's painful punches.
