Sports Illustrated Editor: 'The Model's Personality Is Just as Important as Her Looks'

From left, the cover of the magazine's 2011 Swimsuit Edition featuring Irina Shayk pictured in Hawaii and the model in the Philippines (AP; Raphael Mazzucco/Sports Illustrated)

The 2011 Edition of the famed “Sports Illustrated Swimsuit” issue hit newsstands across the country on Tuesday, featuring a bevy of beauties including covergirl Irina Shayk, Brooklyn Decker, Cintia Dicker and Julie Henderson.

But it turns out that earning a coveted spot inside the glossy magazine takes more than just a fabulous figure and features.

It's what’s inside that matters.

“We’re in constant touch with the New York modeling agencies, and they always let us know if they get a girl they think is the right fit for us because there aren’t that many that are as shapely and full-bodied as we need, obviously the industry is pressuring the girls to be a different way,” Sports Illustrated Senior Editor, Diane Smith, told FOX411’s Pop Tarts. “So once we meet the girls, what is just as important as their beauty and their body is their personality."

Oh come on!

But Smith insists that it is true.

"We want fresh, natural, wholesome, lovely girls that have a good time on the beach. That’s very important. Attitude is really important; we need a girl that is going to give a lot," she said. "The models have a lot to do with it, the photographer captures what they are doing, but it is about the energy that the girl is giving."

Clearly this year’s stunning covergirl – 25-year-old Russian Irina Shayk – checked all the boxes.

“Irina is ready. She’s shocked and surprised, but she’s just such a beauty and she has a great sense of humor. She’s really funny, really smart, and just makes fun of herself," Smith said. "She’s really a comedian and I think she is going to be a great covergirl. She is going to do really well."

Although all the ladies looked pretty good in their pictorials, it seems Shayk (who happens to be the girlfriend of soccer sensation Cristiano Ronaldo) just stood out this year.

“With every girl on every trip, we try very hard to get cover-worthy pics for them. But the magic happens when you least expect it, when the sun is perfect, and the wind is perfect,” she said. “And then when you lay them all out, there is one that just has that magic moment. Irina just captured it.”

And take note – if you happen to see incredibly beautiful women posing in uber-exotic locations sometime between the months of May and November, you just might be witnessing history in the making. Regardless of what the crew may try to tell you.

“It is absolutely so hard to keep it under wraps. People always come up when we’re on trips and ask us what we’re shooting for – we’ve come up with ‘oh we’re shooting a German catalogue, or a swimsuit catalogue,’” added Smith. “My assistant said she didn’t know what she was shooting because she was just a freelancer. We try to keep it quiet.”