The 26-year-old Minnesota woman is hoping to become the first woman with Down syndrome to be featured in the coveted "Sports Illustrated" swimsuit issue.
In February she submitted her casting tape for the mag's 2021 SI Swim search. Wearing a blue-and-white striped two-piece bathing suit, Holmgren smiles cheerfully and says: ”SI Swim has been such a champion of diversity of beauty, and now is the time to include someone like me [as she points to herself]. I am the first woman with Down syndrome in the Miss USA state pageant.” Then jokes, “I rocked my bathing suit on stage. Now it's time to rock the magazine.” She continues: "All women deserve to be celebrated. We need awareness for those with special needs."
Holmgren told Inside Edition Digital that she is not nervous at all, but excited and hopeful. “I just want to build awareness for those with special needs and especially those with Down syndrome,” she said.
Over the years, she has garnered many credits to her name, including Special Olympics athlete, gymnast (level 3), golfer, and model. She has been featured in campaigns for Sephora, Rosedale Mall, and Sigma Beauty, and is clearly, no stranger to the spotlight
In 2017, she was proud to participate as the first woman with Down syndrome in the Miss Minnesota USA pageant and in June will be doing it all over again as a contestant in the 2021 pageant.
Holmgren told Inside Edition Digital that she has always up for new challenges." “I have seen other Miss USA contestants do it. And, I said, I want to do this.”
“When I was born six weeks early, the doctors said that I may never walk or talk,” she told the audience at the press conference, “I proved them wrong.”
In 2018, the National Down Syndrome Society (NDSS), the leading human rights organization for individuals with Down syndrome, chose Holmgren's video out of 2,400 entries and featured it on a jumbotron in Times Square to kick off their Down syndrome walk in New York City, part of their National Down Syndrome Congress Awareness Week.
Holmgren, a graduate of Bethel University B.U.I.L.D. the program, holds a certification in education and works as a teacher's aide.
In case you are keeping track:
Maggie Rawlins, SI Swimsuit star and coronavirus nurse, once shared skincare routine for avoiding
FOX News medical contributor Dr. Marc Siegel weighs in on vaccination distribution on 'The Journal Editorial Report'
During that time, Rawlins opened up about her skincare routine and revealed how she kept her face bright after wearing a face mask for 12 hours a day.
COVID-19 PILL EFFECTIVE IN PRELIMINARY TESTING MAY BE 'HOLY GRAIL' OF PANDEMIC, DR. MARC SIEGEL SAYS
"My routine has changed a little bit over the last few months," Rawlins told Harper's Bazaar , explaining that she worked as a nurse in the Big Apple for three weeks. "I was a nurse before I started modeling and so I thought this was kind of the perfect time to get back to New York and help out the city that has been so good to me over the past few years."
Rawlins added that her skin "kind of freaked out" while wearing a mask all day, especially after "taking it off and Lysol-ing it, and then wearing it again the next day,"' she said.
"I'll wash my face twice, 'cause you're sweating, and wearing tons of PPE, and you're just breathing all day in this mask," she explained.
From there, the model wiped down her face with toning pads to help stop acne, rubbed in vitamin C and age-defying serums, and finished up with moisturizer. Frontline workers might also understand why she started rubbing Vermont's Original Bag Balm – a petrolatum-based jelly – behind her ears, as her skin there became "irritated" from wearing a mask all day.
Trans People Who Made History in 2021 | PEOPLE.com
The Harvard College and Tulane University School of Medicine grad has been Pennsylvania's top health official since 2017, guiding the state through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bloom is no stranger to the excitement and frustration the comes with breaking barriers in nearly every sphere she occupies: she became the first trans woman of color to headline a film at Cannes (2019's Port Authority ) and in 2017, she was the first trans model of color to appear in Vogue India (which misidentified her as Geena Rocero, another trans Filippina model), according to Byrdie.com .
"I was discriminated against for years," Shishir told The Times. "I was born with a male body, but I was matching a woman's mind with soul," she explained, adding, "I had to prove that I exist in society."
"I think 2021 is lucky," she said of her hopes for more visibility and legal protection for trans people in Bangladesh. "I think I'm a part of this country now."
Sports Illustrated taps 56-year-old Kathy Jacobs for Swimsuit Issue
CALABASAS, Calif. — Kathy Jacobs says it's important not to discount people because of their age or height. She should know – the petite 56-year-old is a brand new Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue model.
Jacobs, from Calabasas, California and who stands 5-foot-3-inches, hopes her appearance in the issue will help change readers' views of beauty.
"I'm just like so grateful that they took like a chance on me," says Jacobs. "Two things you can't change about yourself are how old you are and how tall you are."
The 2020 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue is online and on newsstands Tuesday. The cover features a trio of models – Olivia Culpo, Jasmine Sanders and Kate Bock, who also each have individual covers.
The original swimsuit issue ran in 1964. It has been a launching pad for models such as Kathy Ireland, Christie Brinkley, Elle Macpherson, Kate Upton and Ashley Graham.
Over the years the issue has tried to stay fresh, with painted bikinis, plus-sized models, unedited photos, tiny swimsuits, amputee models, older models and the addition of professional athletes and celebrities in relationships.
"That's the great thing about Sports Illustrated is they just keep reinventing themselves and they keep reinventing what is your view of beauty," says Jacobs. "And they keep showing people that there's more than one kind of beauty out there."
According to Sports Illustrated's website, the magazine discovered Jacobs during a recent open casting call.
"A year ago, I had just quit my minimum wage job sweeping the floor at Dry Bar and I said, I'm going to give this one last shot," Jacobs told Fox News . "I'm gonna take some headshots and send them out.
In case you are keeping track:
Sports Illustrated model and CT native Camille Kostek hosting new season of 'Wipeout' on TBS
Nicole Byer, Camille Kostek and John Cena host the TBS reboot of "Wipeout" premiering April 1, 2021.
Camille Kostek attend Rob Gronkowski attend Gronk Beach at North Beach Bandshell on February 1, 2020 in Miami, Florida.
SI Models Jasmine Sanders, Kate Bock, Olivia Culpo, Josephine Skriver, and Camille Kostek attend day 3 of SiriusXM at Super Bowl LIV on January 31, 2020 in Miami, Florida.
On April 1, Kostek, along with John Cena and Nicole Byer, will grace small screens across the U.S. as a host the reboot of "Wipeout," which originally aired on ABC until 2014. The show is a light-hearted physical endurance competition in which contestants go through obstacle courses and, more often than not, wipe out.
"(My niche) is a family show bringing joy to people's houses and making them laugh," said Kostek. "It took me a few years to figure that out. This is a place where I got to just feel like Camille."
Filming took place in Santa Clarita, Calif., this past November and December. Harking back to the early wake-up calls during her school days, Kostek said she had to leave at 4:45 a.m. to go to set. "And I am not a morning person," she said. Once there, she would outfit herself with hand warmers in her pockets, her shoes and her shirt. In about 37-degree weather, she and her fellow hosts had to pretend it was summer for the cameras.
"It's not all glamorous all the time...[we filmed] during cold Cali days, which I didn't know was a thing," she said.
Another challenge: Having to do it all while socially distancing and wearing masks. "The toughest thing for me was not seeing people's smiles because everyone had to wear a mask. There were times when I would crack jokes, and with the masks and being so far away, I couldn't see them laugh or see their faces. It was hard to feel the energy in the room... and I'm such a hugger."
Despite the early mornings, daily COVID tests and frozen fingers, Kostek said she enjoyed every minute and hopes to come back for more seasons. "When you love it, you don't pay attention to hours or how cold it is."
Camille Kostek makes TV debut as host of 'Wipeout' reboot
Camille Kostek excelled against formidable competition to become an NFL cheerleader and the 2019 Sports Illustrated swimsuit cover model.
But as the field host in Thursday's TBS reboot of "Wipeout," Kostek, 29, realizes a childhood dream.
"It’s so cool to have grown up watching the show, always dreaming of one day being able to be a television host. It’s something that I studied and have admired from afar for so long and have been a part of as well," she said in a phone interview.
"I’m really excited my debut on national television is with 'Wipeout.' I get to be myself and really get to know the contestants.
"There’s times when I get really emotional because you see these kids or adults going through these courses and it's really cool to see the moment they realize, 'I'm going home with $25,000 with my partner!'"
"Honestly, I think it's one of the best days," she laughed. "What’s so great about the show and being all in on the action is that there is no preparing.
"It’s just spontaneous, in the moment, action that you just cannot prepare for. No matter how many times people have told me that they trained for it or created their own obstacle courses.
"It doesn’t even matter how athletic you are. Sometimes stuff will bop you around, surprise you and toss you into the water before you can even think about strategy.
"We were just talking about how we love the New England fan base because everywhere you go and everything you do is football and Patriots.
Olivia Culpo Remembers 'Paradise City' Co-Star Cameron Boyce, Plus: Her Return to SI's Swimsuit
Olivia Culpo is opening up to "Extra's" Cheslie Kryst about returning for Sports Illustrated's Swimsuit issue 2021, and her new Amazon Prime series "Paradise City," co-starring the late Cameron Boyce.
Olivia said, "He was so nice, so talented, so hard-working. I remember just thinking, 'Wow, he's so nice, he's so kind,' and I've always known him from afar, and it was great to meet him and work with him. He was genuinely a lovely person, just had great energy. He will be missed, absolutely."
Bella Thorne also stars in the series, and Culpo revealed, "Bella's character and my character have some sort of weird tension — but it was really fun." Olivia is showing off her cello skills, but not her vocals, "I actually don't sing in this, but that would be cool! I'm going to put that out into the energy of the world."
And the world can see her back in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition July 20. She shot it in Florida during the pandemic, saying, "The hair and makeup artists were double-masked, hazmat face shield… no talking during glam, during hair and makeup, so you couldn't say anything."
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