Hunter McGrady on the Empowering Story Behind Her ‘Sports Illustrated’ Swim Shoot

Hunter McGrady isn’t new to the pages of Sports Illustrated, but this year’s SI Swim edition marks her official rookie debut. As the curviest model to be featured, McGrady—who is a size 16—wants to be more than just the skin she’s photographed in; she wants her photos to represent the essence of what it means to be a confident, resilient, empowered woman. We caught up with her ahead of the issue’s launch to talk more about body positivity and what being photographed by SI Swim‘s all-woman team means to her.

Glamour: What was the difference for you when you stepped on set this time around versus last year?

Hunter McGrady: Last year, I was going into my shoot feeling sexy, confident, and curvy. It was my bombshell dream. I knew I was breaking records for being one of the curviest women SI Swim had ever had. The response was overwhelming. This year, I actually cried when I got my rookie swimsuit. It’s a big deal. You’re up there with the bigs like Heidi Klum and Tyra Baks.

We shot this beautiful project called In Her Own Words. It featured amazing, successful women, and we were given our own power to produce our own shoot, essentially. On set, Taylor Ballantyne [the photographer] said, “Here, I want you to put words on your body, anywhere you want, that mean something to you—something that holds weight in your life.” Each one of us chose words that were very powerful and meaningful to us. I knew that with so many amazing movements going on that it was probably going to be controversial, but amazing and empowering for the people who got it.

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Glamour: Tell us about the words you wrote on your body. Why were those so important to you?

HM: I put “worthy” right in the middle of my chest, where your eye automatically goes, for reason. It’s one of the most important words to me. Because at 16-years-old, the size 2 Hunter, who didn’t eat, who worked out for hours a day, who was depressed, who was anxious and shy and scared of the world, would have never thought she was worthy enough to be in this position of success, where she’d feel beautiful and confident in her own skin. I want people to feel worthy and to know that they are worthy. The only reason we don’t feel that way is because that’s what society tells us. That’s why I created a hashtag called #AllWorthy.

I put “confidence” and “boundless” down my leg because my legs are the strongest parts of my body. That’s what holds me up and keeps me strong. I wanted “confidence” because I’m naked. I’m a size 16. And I’m here to say this is what confidence looks like and it’s beautiful. Why are we so worried if, God forbid, we have a roll, cellulite, or stretch marks? These are normal, human things that everybody has. My fiancé has them, and he’s a man. Everybody has them. I just don’t understand because society tells us they are our flaws.

I don’t think you can see it in the photo, but on my back I put “resilience” because I think in this world we have to be resilient. There are a lot of people who are against what I do and will say, “Oh my God, I can’t believe SI is promoting obesity, I can’t believe this whale, etc.” Essentially I’m a punching bag for negative comments, and I get that. But I don’t just do it for me. I do it for everybody else who doesn’t get that chance to have a voice or a platform, who doesn’t get to speak out and say, “No, eff you. You don’t get to say that about my body.”

Glamour: Even with all the confidence in the world, we all have our down days. How do you handle that?

HM: That’s a big misconception about the body positivity movement: It’s like, these girls just have the confidence, and they don’t wake up feeling bad. But you know what, I struggle with depression and anxiety. There are days I cry for no reason. I’m a huge mental health advocate and an ambassador for the JED Foundation for Suicide Prevention. I truly believe it’s something we need to talk about because it’s OK to not be OK. There are days I cry because I feel like shit and don’t want to do anything. Or I don’t like my hair or my stomach or my butt looks bad, etc. Of course there are those days because, again, I’m human. But am I going to let them ruin my life? No. I’ve been a size two, a size 18, and everything in between. I’ve learned to tell myself what I need to hear. I’ll say, “You know what, Hunter, you’re worthy. You’re beautiful. It’s OK if you’re not having a good day, but get up, go out, smile at someone, make someone else’s day. Tomorrow is a new day, but you look beautiful.”

Glamour: Some people like the term plus-size, others prefer curvy, etc. What do you prefer?

HM: I was often asked about that last year, and yeah, sometimes the word “plus” seems a little bit segregating. But also within this past year, with our [political culture], I feel like with anything anyone says, someone gets offended. So I’m like, listen, you call me whatever you want. I just want inclusiveness. I think size-inclusive is awesome, curvy is great, plus-size is fine. Whatever you want to call it, it’s just important to keep inclusivity as the main narrative here.

Glamour: One thing I don’t think many people realize is that this SI Swim issue was entirely produced by women. What did that mean for you?

HM: Everything was done by women, even down to the video editing. That’s huge. Huge! It’s probably going to sound cheesy because it’s so obvious, but it was so empowering. There was crying on set because we felt connected and truthful to one another, and we felt like we could share and be honest and be open. Again, we’re women who are baring our bodies. We got in conversations about why we chose our words. It was so very raw and real, and it felt needed. I didn’t feel like I had to cover anything up. I didn’t feel like I had to hide. I didn’t feel like I had to worry about anything coming around the corner. I just felt safe. It felt like home.

Glamour: What’s the one message you hope people take away from your shoot?

HM: That the body positive/plus-size movement isn’t just a hot-button word. It’s not a trendy thing. It’s here to say. All shapes and sizes are what you’re going to see from now on. Get on board or get out.

This interview has been edited and condensed.