TMZ:

The secret is out ... and so is the RIDICULOUSLY SMOKIN' HOT photo ... Kate Upton has been awarded the prestigious title of 2012 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition cover girl.

TMZ has learned ... a few of the issues arrived early to a gas station in Michigan ... and the pics are already making the rounds at breakneck speed. Props to @willdefries for the heads up.

S.I. was originally scheduled to announce the cover girl and reveal the cover shot at an event tonight ... but now, the cat is out of the bag.

mine was too late

but woot! link to the article

http://www.tmz.com/2012/02/13/kate-upton-u...b/#.TzmGTrGPWhw

btw guys the Late show is happening now? is not live? anybody knows...?

Ariel

Sweet....so Kate get gets the cover after all

I'm visiting a gas station next year then

Haha, this stuff is impossible to keep a secret in the age of Twitter.

If that cover is indeed legit I am happy Kate got it but I'm a bit disappointed at the shot they used.

It's certainly one of the poorer covers in recent editions. So right girl, wrong shot.

Haha, this stuff is impossible to keep a secret in the age of Twitter.

If that cover is indeed legit I am happy Kate got it but I'm a bit disappointed at the shot they used.

It's certainly one of the poorer covers in recent editions. So right girl, wrong shot.

you have to give them credit though, they had it quiet until almost the last second

Haha, this stuff is impossible to keep a secret in the age of Twitter.

If that cover is indeed legit I am happy Kate got it but I'm a bit disappointed at the shot they used.

It's certainly one of the poorer covers in recent editions. So right girl, wrong shot.

exactly great body but her face just here looks meh! i like her though but she have better pics

no clue if this is legit says the cover leaked, source tumblr so it could be wrong? xD

Seriously? the bottom part of her body is computer made.

The cover looks so cheap.

I did not see her other pictures but... why this picture? Swimsuit is obviously too small and her pose is oh so unflattering.

I was expecting so much more. Fail.

so far I feel the same, but maybe it'll change when we get an hq version? like Prettyphile I love the style on it, just the photo they chose is iffy. I'm not a huge fan of when Kate does the whole chin dip look and you kind of get that here. that being said i'm happy for her

side note but how upset do you think SI people were that it got leaked from a gas station?

The sad reality is that if Sports Illustrated decides to be technical, they can sue the station that released it on the grounds that there is a cover date of release on the magazine. They factor in some of their sales for this issue based on the hype surrounding it, and an early release may have hurt that quote on quote hype. That aside, I happen to like the cover, regardless of it's real or not, it's a ridiculously skimpy bikini, it's classic posing from the 70's, and fashion is in transition from the 70's to the 80's now so that makes sense.

I think anything over the top, or with some weird pose would have either been drastically -not- Kate, or would have been generic like the last 3+ years of covers. So I guess I'm stuck disagreeing with the majority of you on the appropriateness of the cover, regardless I'll be picking it up tomorrow morning after work and scanning it throughout the day. Can't wait to see the inside, though the notion of 150+ pictures is slightly nauseating.

Last year it was what 113..... and it took you how long?

I'll be up till the wee hours of the morning editing and tagging 150+ pictures lmao . F*ck yourself hooker <3

I love Kate because to me she is a modern pin-up (sometimes she reminds me a young Ana Nicole Smith and I say it as a compliment Ana was amazing for Guess) But on this cover she looks like a page 3 model and even if I like page 3 models, she looks like a bad page 3 model. I don't even think it's her fault. The whole retouching/layout of the cover is lame and the blurry background? What is that? A 70's porn movie? I might be the quality of the photo tho and maybe the HQ will look better? But for now to me it's just a waste of Kate and paper.

Just found this in the first pages of the thread

Totally agree-cover will be Kate at an Aussie beach in red

Kate: check

Red bikini: check:

Australia: ?

I'm really hoping it's the quality of the picture & the HQ will be amazing, because while she does look super hot her head looks really weird & i can't stand it.

Now on other things the cover says 18 models & 6 are rookies, which means we're still missing 2 rookies, i guess that will be in fact the only surprise we get because we already have the 12 returning girls, which also means that Esti is definitely out

I'm so happy for Kate but I do agree that the cover is probably not the best photo she took to put on the front but oh well at least she got it and she does look fantastic

because while she does look super hot her head looks really weird

basically how i feel.

and that would unfortunate if SI decides to take those steps. It was only a few hours before everyone in New York would be able to see it so maybe they won't.

Look what someone predicted on page 1 of this thread:

http://www.bellazon.com/main/index.php?sho...t&p=2526649

I think the 2012 cover will be Kate Upton in a red bikini and I predict they'll have Alex Morgan in a little picture on the right. And it will mention Bar Refaeli too, on the right.

The cover leaked early every year since 2008 so i doubt they'll sue this year

Look what someone predicted on page 1 of this thread:

http://www.bellazon.com/main/index.php?sho...t&p=2526649

I think the 2012 cover will be Kate Upton in a red bikini and I predict they'll have Alex Morgan in a little picture on the right. And it will mention Bar Refaeli too, on the right.

holly sh... thats pretty Scary... UK u dont make the cover?lol