It doesn’t take much for Olivia Culpo to turn heads — the 27-year-old is not only a supermodel and former Miss Universe, she’s now been listed as the “hottest” woman of the year.
The LA-based brunette beauty revealed on Monday she had landed the top spot on the annual Maxim Hot 100 list, which celebrates powerful, head-turning women in pop culture, in an Instagram post.
“I’ve always looked at the Maxim Hot 100 with admiration,” Culpo wrote alongside a cover photo of herself on the magazine.
“There have been so many smart and successful women featured who have inspired me and my career in countless ways, which makes this cover so meaningful to me. It still doesn’t feel real!
Culpo, who is wearing a silk cover-up and lace underwear on the cover, then thanked the magazine for the opportunity.
“Thank you so much @maximmag for the opportunity and to all of the people who worked on this with me,” she concluded.
Many of her 4.1 million followers flooded her post with messages of congratulations.
“YES!!!! Congratulations,” said Haley Kalil, a former beauty pageant titleholder and fellow Sports Illustrated model.
“This is stunning. Congratulations beautiful,” Aussie model Mads Rafferty said.
“This is huge,” another fellow US model and pageant coach said.
“Wow wow wow,” a fan commented
The magazine also shared the news on its Instagram page, congratulating Culpo for being named its 2019 Maxim Hot 100 cover model.
Previous cover stars on the magazine include Taylor Swift, Miley Cyrus, Olivia Wilde and Hailey Baldwin. Last year’s winner was model Kate Upton.
WHO IS OLIVIA CULPO
After winning the Miss Rhode Island USA competition, the first pageant she entered, Culpo went on to be crowned Miss USA and then Miss Universe in 2012, becoming the first winner from the US since Brook Lee in 1997.
Culpo appeared in the 2018 and 2019 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue and has also modelled for L’Oréal and Kipling.
The 27-year-old dated musician Nick Jonas from 2013 to 2015 before entering into a turbulent relationship with NFL player Danny Amendola.
In April this year, after they broke up, Amendola posted about Culpo criticising her “fishbowl lifestyle”, saying “Olivia chooses and wants to be noticed on the internet and in Hollywood to make money”.
Interestingly, Jonas wrote the song Jealous about his former girlfriend. It includes the lines “I wish you didn’t have to post it all. I wish you’d save a little bit just for me”.
In March this year, Culpo stunned fans after she posted a snap of herself sprawled on the sand wearing a beige two-piece swimsuit composed almost entirely of knotted and woven fringe.
She shared two images in the $400 bikini with the caption “Life’s a beach” as she smiled into the camera, skilfully balancing a glass of wine on her hip — the Sports Illustrated model was holidaying in Mexico at the time.
