Kate Upton

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title: "Kate Upton" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1992-births", "living-people", "21st-century-american-actresses", "actresses-from-florida", "actresses-from-michigan", "american-christians", "american-female-equestrians", "american-film-actresses", "female-models-from-florida", "female-models-from-michigan", "holy-trinity-episcopal-academy-alumni", "people-from-melbourne,-florida", "people-from-st.-joseph,-michigan", "the-lions-(agency)-models", "upton-family", "21st-century-american-sportswomen", "actors-from-brevard-county,-florida"] description: "American model and actress (born 1992)" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kate_Upton" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary American model and actress (born 1992) ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox person"]

Field	Value
name	Kate Upton
image	Kate Upton in 2021.jpg
caption	Upton in 2021
birth_name	Katherine Elizabeth Upton
birth_date
birth_place	St. Joseph, Michigan, U.S.
education
father	Jeff Upton
mother	Shelley Davis Upton
children	2
spouse
relatives	Fred Upton (uncle)
occupation	{{flatlist
yearsactive	2008–present
module	{{Infobox model
child	yes
height
haircolor	Blonde
eyecolor	Blue/green
agency	{{Flatlist
signature	Kate Upton signature.svg
::

| name = Kate Upton | image = Kate Upton in 2021.jpg | caption = Upton in 2021 | birth_name = Katherine Elizabeth Upton | birth_date = | birth_place = St. Joseph, Michigan, U.S. | education = | father = Jeff Upton | mother = Shelley Davis Upton | children = 2 | spouse = | relatives = Fred Upton (uncle) | occupation = {{flatlist|

• Model
• actress}} | yearsactive = 2008–present | module = {{Infobox model | child = yes | height = | haircolor = Blonde | eyecolor = Blue/green | agency = {{Flatlist|
• The Lions (New York, Los Angeles)}} | website = | signature = Kate Upton signature.svg Katherine Elizabeth Upton (born June 10, 1992) is an American model and actress. She first appeared in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue in 2011, and was the cover model for the 2012, 2013, and 2017 issues. In addition, she was the subject of the 100th-anniversary Vanity Fair cover. Upton has also appeared in the films Tower Heist (2011), The Other Woman (2014), and The Layover (2017).

Early life

Katherine Elizabeth Upton was born in St. Joseph, Michigan. She is the daughter of Shelley (née Davis), a former Texas state tennis champion, and Jeff Upton, a high school athletic director. Her uncle is former U.S. Representative Fred Upton. Upton's great-grandfather, Frederick Upton, was co-founder of appliance manufacturer and marketer Whirlpool Corporation.

In 1999, Upton moved with her family to Melbourne, Florida, As a young equestrian, she showed at the American Paint Horse Association (APHA) and competed at a national level. With her horse Roanie, she won three APHA Reserve World Championships – 13 and Under Western Riding, 13 and Under Horsemanship, and 14–18 Western Riding. She was named the 13 and Under Reserve All-Around Champion, giving her a total of four reserve championships (second place). In addition, Upton ended up third overall on the APHA youth Top 20. With a second horse, Colby, she won 14–18 Western Riding and was included in the top five in 14–18 Horsemanship and 14–18 Western Pleasure in 2009.

Career

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/af/Kate_Upton_at_G-Star_2014_(2).jpg" caption="Upton at [[G-Star]] 2014"] ::

Upton attended a casting call in Miami for Elite Model Management in 2008 and was signed the same day. She eventually moved to New York City, where she then signed with IMG Models. Upton first modeled clothing for Garage and Dooney & Bourke. She was the 2010–11 face of Guess. In 2011, Upton appeared in the *Sports Illustrated *Swimsuit Issue. She was featured in the body paint section and named Rookie of the Year for the issue. She has since modeled for Beach Bunny Swimwear, and has appeared in Complex, as well as Esquire as "The Woman of the Summer". Upton wore one of the Beach Bunny suits in the 2014 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue.

In April 2011, an Internet video of her doing the dougie hip-hop dance at a Los Angeles Clippers game went viral and served to increase her popularity. Guy Trebay of The New York Times observed that this served to illustrate the power of social media to bestow stardom upon a model, which had previously been the domain of top designer runway shows. In April 2012, Upton appeared in a video of herself performing the Cat Daddy dance to the song of the same name by The Rej3ctz, which also went viral.

Upton made an appearance in a June 2011 episode of Tosh.0 and participated in the 2011 Taco Bell All-Star Legends and Celebrity Softball Game at Chase Field in Phoenix, Arizona, in July 2011. Upton's acting debut was in the film, Tower Heist, as Mr. Hightower's mistress. It was released in November 2011. She also appeared in The Three Stooges as Sister Bernice. Upton appeared on the cover of the 2012 *Sports Illustrated *Swimsuit Issue, released in February 2012. Upton has also recounted the negative aftereffects of the 2012 Sports Illustrated cover, as she was subjected to criticism and felt she had been objectified.

Upton has appeared in editorials for American, Italian, British, Spanish, German, and Brazilian Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, V, Mademoiselle, LOVE, Italian, German, and American GQ, Cosmopolitan, Glamour, and Esquire. She has appeared on the covers of Italian, American, and British Vogue, French and American Elle, American, Italian, and German GQ, Esquire, and Vanity Fair. She has appeared in advertising campaigns for David Yurman, Sam Edelman, Betsey Johnson, Guess, Victoria's Secret, Express, and Bare Necessities. She was named the "new face" of Bobbi Brown cosmetics in 2014.

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/46/Kate_Upton_and_Harley_Upton_crop.png" caption="Upton and her dog Harley in 2017"] ::

In 2012, Upton was ranked the fifth-sexiest model by Models.com. She ranked number three on the American publication of *AskMen's * Top 99 Women for 2013. In 2012, she was listed on *Maxim*s Hot 100 list, citing her photo shoots with Sports Illustrated. Upton was the cover model for the 2013 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue for the second consecutive year. Parts of her 2013 Sports Illustrated pictorial were filmed in Antarctica and Upton suffered from failing hearing and eyesight due to the extreme cold. After getting the November 2012 Vogue Italia cover photographed by Steven Meisel and the January 2013 Vogue UK cover, Upton landed the June 2013 Vogue cover by Mario Testino. She was then photographed by Annie Leibovitz for the October 2013 100th anniversary cover of Vanity Fair.

In September 2013, Upton was named Model of the Year at the 10th annual Style Awards at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week in New York City. Upton appeared on the flip-side cover of the 2014 50th-anniversary Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, the first time that type of cover was used by that magazine. Part of her shoot took place at Cape Canaveral, capturing her in zero gravity. In April 2014, she appeared with Cameron Diaz, Leslie Mann, and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau in the comedy The Other Woman as Amber, one of Coster-Waldau's character's mistresses.

In 2014, Upton starred with Tony Hale in Lady Antebellum's music video "Bartender". People named Upton its Sexiest Woman for 2014, the first time the title has been awarded. Also in 2014, Upton was the centerpiece of a $40 million advertising campaign for Machine Zone's mobile app Game of War: Fire Age. In 2017, Upton starred with Alexandra Daddario in The Layover, a road trip sex comedy directed by William H. Macy. The film follows two best friends (Daddario and Upton) on vacation as they fight over the same man during a layover in St. Louis. Also that year, Upton appeared in James Franco's film adaptation The Disaster Artist, about the production of the film The Room. Upton hosts fashion reality television show Dress My Tour, which premiered on Hulu in 2024.

Personal life

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/Kate_Upton_Justin_Verlander_(48266181781).jpg" caption="Upton and husband [[Justin Verlander]] in 2019"] ::

Upton is Christian, and has stated that her belief in God is important to her. During a photo shoot, someone joked about a cross necklace she wore, saying, "Why are you wearing a cross? Like you would be religious", then took the necklace from her to do the shoot. Upton stated about the incident, "I was really affected by that. The whole thing made me realize that I do want a cross with me, at all times", and as a result had a cross tattooed on the inside of her finger.

In 2014, nude photographs of Upton and several other female celebrities were illegally leaked to the Internet. Upton started dating then-Detroit Tigers pitcher Justin Verlander in early 2014, and they were engaged in 2016. In 2017, the couple married in Tuscany, Italy. They have a daughter, born in 2018, and a son, born in 2025.

Filmography

Film

::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/Kate_Upton,_Cameron_Diaz,Leslie_Mann(cropped).jpg" caption="The Other Woman]]'' (2014)"] ::

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Tower Heist	Mr. Hightower's Mistress	Cameo
2012	The Three Stooges	Sister Bernice
2014	The Other Woman	Amber
2017	The Layover	Meg
The Disaster Artist	Herself	Scenes deleted
2019	Adult Interference	Talia	Previously known as Wild Man, shot in 2017
2024	Sweet Dreams	Kat
::

Television

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Tosh.0	Herself	Episode: "Bug in Mouth Reporter"
2012	Sports Illustrated: The Making of Swimsuit 2012	TV special; dated February 14
Saturday Night Live	Episode: "Maya Rudolph/Sleigh Bells"
title=Kate Upton	url=https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4478322/	publisher=IMDb	access-date=January 26, 2013}}
2016	Barely Famous	Episode: "Love & Upton"
2017	Lip Sync Battle	Episode: "Ricky Martin vs. Kate Upton"
Project Runway	Herself/Guest judge	Episode: "A "Little" Avant Garde"
2018	RuPaul's Drag Race	Episodes: "DragCon Panel Extravaganza", "Snatch Game"
Robot Chicken	Unsinkable Molly Brown/Blonde Girl	Episode: "Your Mouth Is Hanging off Your Face"
2024	*Dress My Tour *	Herself/Host	9 episodes
::

Music videos

::data[format=table]

Year	Title	Role	Artist
2014	"Bartender"	Woman	Lady Antebellum
::

Awards and nominations

::data[format=table]

Year	Awards	Category	Recipient	Result
2012	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Female Hottie	Herself
2013	Style Awards	Model of the Year
2014	People Magazine Awards	People's Sexiest Woman
Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie: Chemistry (shared with Cameron Diaz and Leslie Mann)	The Other Woman
Young Hollywood Awards	Coolest Crossover Artist	Herself
Hottest Body (of Work)
2015	MTV Movie & TV Awards	Best Shirtless Performance	The Other Woman
::

References

References

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