Sports Illustrated model photographed with C-section scar makes history
Sports Illustrated model Kelly Hughes discusses her Sports Illustrated photoshoot baring her C-section scar and the meaning behind it on ‘The Story.’
Kelly Hughes made history this summer when she became the first model to bare her cesarean-section scar for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition in the magazine's 58-year history.
In an interview on "The Story" Wednesday, Hughes opened up about the struggles she endured during labor, the insecurities she faced after giving birth, and how she's learned to embrace her new body after delivering her now 3-year-old son via cesarean.
Hughes credited Sports Illustrated for partnering with Frida Mom to raise awareness of Pay With Change, an initiative aimed to "positively shift the mainstream cultural narratives associated with women’s bodies – especially when becoming a mom."
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Kelly Hughes hopes her appearance in SI Swimsuit will inspire other women, especially moms, to celebrate their bodies. (Fumie Hoppe/SI Swimsuit)
"It’s really amazing because in the fashion industry normally, they retouch things and obviously they hide things that are not normally perfection," she told Fox News host Martha MacCallum. "The fashion industry as a whole has had a narrow idea of what beauty is. Sports Illustrated is paving the way and always doing incredible things to show more of who a woman is, not just how they look physically but to tell their stories and more about what they do on and off camera…so when they reached out looking for a mom with a C- section scar, I was like, this is a perfect fit."
The proud mom and model wore a nude-hued skimpy string bikini for the 2022 issue which features Kim Kardashian, Maye Musk, Ciara and Yumi Nu as this year’s cover girls.
Hughes said she was both excited and nervous to reveal her scar for the first time as it became a source of "insecurity" for her in her industry, but that she actually found the process "liberating."
"Obviously, being that I’m a model and have been in the industry for over 20 years, I’ve never shown my scar before and it was something that I was a little concerned about," she said.
Kelly Hughes gave birth to her son in November 2018. (Courtesy of Kelly Hughes)
"Being vulnerable [about] something that you were insecure about at one point obviously was really liberating to actually show it. And then to see the reaction from so many and how they related to it and how they were empowered by it and encouraged by it is what made all the difference."
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Hughes said she was initially hoping to avoid a C-section because society puts pressure on new moms to "bounce back" and she worried it would delay her healing. Three years later, the model is on a mission to inspire women with scars of all kinds and help grow their confidence in their own skin.
"This message was so much more than just a scar as well," she said. "I had people reaching out to me saying that they related to it for a different type of scars, but it also is a mental side of things. Obviously, you can have a physical scar but you definitely can struggle mentally as well. And the healing process after having a baby is physical and mental," she said, adding, "there’s a lot of stigma around that because there’s pressure for women to bounce back."
Fox News' Stephanie Nolasco contributed to this report.
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