Full coverage was perfect for Hilary Duff.
The 38-year-old singer had one condition for her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit 2026 cover shoot: no bikinis.
On Thursday’s episode of “Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce,” Duff recalled an early conversation with the magazine’s team. “It was great to have a conversation with them and be like, ‘Hey, I’m not going to wear a bikini,'” she said. “For example, I had four kids. I’m comfortable showing this, but I’m not comfortable showing this. And they’re like, ‘Okay, okay, okay.'”
Duff also shared his raw first reaction when he landed on the cover while driving to pick up his kids from school.
“My first reaction was, ‘Wow, I thought I was going to be in great shape,'” said Kelce, also a mother of four. “And I don’t consider myself a model. I’m 5 feet 2 inches tall. I have four children.”
What put her at ease was the presence of the team behind the camera. Duff says the shoot was primarily female-led, allowing her to bring along her own glam team, including makeup artist Kelsey Deenihan, who uses Charlotte Tilbury products to create a sun-kissed glow.
“The editor-in-chief is amazing. The photographer was who I wanted. It was my entire styling team, my hair and makeup,” she said. “They wanted me to feel my best.”
Duff, who posed for photographer Kat Ahlin in South Caicos in a plunging white one-piece swimsuit, said she flew in for just one day on Super Bowl night and found the whirlwind shoot on a secluded sandbar freeing.
“My body has worked hard for me and created my entire family,” she said, adding that with each pregnancy, she “feels a little bit better” with the emotions that come with changes in her body.
This wasn’t the first time she went beyond her comfort zone in front of the camera. In 2022, the “young” alum posed for Women’s Health magazine with just a tattoo, which she admitted was “pretty scary.”
In 2024, she welcomed her fourth child, daughter Towns, with her husband Matthew Koma.
Duff shares the 2026 cover with Alix Earle, Tiffany Haddish, and Nicole Williams English.
Her SI debut is the latest milestone in a blockbuster year. The former Disney Channel star released her sixth studio album, Luck or Something, her first in more than a decade, in January and will begin a world tour next month.
