Sports Illustrated aiming too low with Swimsuit Issue cover?
Hannah Davis may not be as famous as past cover models like Chrissy Teigen, Lily Aldridge (2014) or Kate Upton (2012 and 2013), but she has made the world sit up since the steamy image was unveiled on US talk show The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Feb 4.
That smouldering gaze and amazing figure are not the only reasons.
Instead, all eyes strayed south to where Davis is tugging seductively at her bikini bottom, "which is slung so low that a centimetre more would make the shot more suitable for Playboy", as The Washington Post puts it.
The picture had netizens cheekily asking, "Swimsuit? What swimsuit?"
OFFENSIVE
It has also raised questions whether Sports Illustrated has gone too low with such a risque cover.
The New York Post, with the headline "Has Sports Illustrated gone too far?", said that while the cover will make Davis, 24, a star, it leaves very little to the imagination.
Others have also praised Davis for her beauty while mocking the cover for being "offensive", "disgusting" and bordering on pornography.
People magazine senior writer Lynette Rice said on Twitter: "Will we all be desensitised when SI debuts a swimsuit issue with a bottomless model? Seems like we're gettin there."
In an online poll, US Weekly asked readers to choose between "So hot!" and "Ugh, porn!" to describe the cover and 78 per cent of 2,000-plus people chose the latter.
So what does the US hottie think about scoring the coveted cover photo, shot at Blackberry Farm in Tennessee?
The green-eyed, 1.78m-tall model, who shed tears of joy when she was told the news, told Sports Illustrated: "I told my mum there was no way I'd get the cover. I told her, 'They do beaches for covers and I'm on a farm. There's no way. It's not possible'."
Her mother was very thrilled and excited by the achievement, said Davis.
Here's the skinny on the latest SI sex symbol:
1 SHE IS A CHAMPION TENNIS PLAYER
Davis, who boasts a 34-26-36 inch figure and is signed to IMG Models, was discovered by a photographer at 14. But she once quit modelling to pursue tennis.
Davis, who grew up in St Thomas, US Virgin Islands, decided to drop tennis for good at 18.
According to Virgin Islands Daily News, Davis was so good at the sport she was ranked in the top two spots at the Caribbean Tennis Circuit at the young age of 12 until she left high school.
She was also a member of the Virgin Islands national volleyball team.
Her other skills include stilt walking and unicycling.
2 SHE WANTS TO DO A KISSING SCENE WITH...
Short, rotund and balding actor-comedian Danny DeVito, 70. We can't tell if Davis was serious in her response to a 2013 Q&A in Sports Illustrated.
3 SHE GETS TURNED AWAY BY BOUNCERS AT NEW YORK CLUBS
The New York-based babe told GQ last year her Virgin Islands ID often comes across as fake and raises the suspicion of bouncers. Perhaps the hassle turned her off late-night partying - she jokingly said she's "like an old lady".
4 SHE HAS MODELLED FOR SPORTS ILLUSTRATED TWICE BEFORE
Last year, she was photographed at Cape May in New Jersey, wearing a cropped blue top that barely covered her breasts and a tiny green and white bikini.
5 HER BOYFRIEND IS FORMER US BASEBALL STAR DEREK JETER
They have had an on-off relationship for the past three years since he broke up with US actress Minka Kelly.
Jeter, 40, is very private about his love life, but he dared Davis to take up the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge last August in a rare public display of affection.
Any plans to settle down remain a mystery.
"I told my mum there was no way I'd get the cover. I told her, 'They do beaches for covers and I'm on a farm. There's no way. It's not possible'."
- Hannah Davis
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