Gayle King Reacts to Her Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Cover! (Exclusive)

On Tuesday, Gayle King was unveiled as one of the cover models for Sports Illustrated Swimsuit’s 60th anniversary edition.

“Extra’s” Mona Kosar Abdi spoke with Gayle, who “never dreamed” of being in SI Swimsuit, much less on the cover!

Gayle was “still actually processing [the news]” after learning about her cover on-air on “CBS Mornings.”

King made history by becoming the first news anchor to be in the magazine and on the cover.

As for the shoot itself, Gayle admitted that she was “out of my box.” She revealed that she consulted with her daughter Kirby and BFF Oprah Winfrey and added, “I was thinking, ‘I don’t want to look ridiculous.’”

After a conversation with SI editor-in-chief MJ Day, Gayle “felt a little more comfortable” with the historic shoot.

She said, “I don’t mind showing the body, but I just wanted it to be tasteful without looking fuddy-duddy.”

Gayle showed some love to photographer Yu Tsai, saying, “I just did everything he told me… It feels very posed, but it looks very natural when the picture comes out. They know what they’re doing at Sports Illustrated… I did feel in really good hands.”

Gayle said she wanted to “celebrate all of us as women” with her shoot. She added, “When women are involved, I think good things happen and I think Sports Illustrated is a perfect example of the evolution of who we are as women.”

After doing the shoot, what’s her message to others? She answered, “Don’t be scared!” She elaborated, “Trust the process, and when somebody comes to you and wants to… honor you in this way… don’t turn that down. Embrace it.”

Her cover got the seal of approval from her friends and family, with one person even suggesting that she use it for her dating profile!

She added, “I’m not doing that, but that is funny.”

Mona also chatted with cover girls Kate Upton and Hunter McGrady, who praised Sports Illustrated Swimsuit for championing body inclusivity.

This it's Kate's fourth cover and she shared, "To be a part of a brand that I really watched grow in so many different ways and really empower women and take the conversation we started in 2012 talking about body inclusivity and what it's grown into, I'm just so happy to be aligned with this brand."

Hunter echoed her sentiments, saying, "This is actually my seventh time in the magazine and first time on the cover, which is crazy. I'll never forget seeing Kate's cover in 2012 and being like, 'Oh my gosh, a body that is like curvy and, like, whoa'! ... So to be alongside her now as one of the cover girls is just so surreal, so special."